Post-punk and the relationship to the body is something that gets overlooked in critical discussions of the genre.

Most critical writing about post-punk focuses on the intellectual dimension — the literary influences, the theoretical underpinnings, the critique of rock's conventions. All of that is real and worth discussing. But post-punk is also physically compelling in ways that get missed when you only look at the intellectual architecture.

The rhythmic approach in great post-punk is designed to produce a specific bodily response that's different from either punk or funk but borrows from both. It's not the straightforward kinetic drive of punk or the groove-oriented pull of funk — it's a kind of angular momentum, a sense of moving forward in a slightly wrong direction.

The bass in post-punk is the primary physical driver. The angular guitar lines create the intellectual discomfort; the bass creates the movement. Getting this balance right is what separates great post-punk from bands that understand the aesthetic but don't feel it.