Peter Hook - 'Unknown Pleasures'

Ah Manchester, so much to answer for. Barcelona just can’t seem to get enough of England’s rainiest city. With not one but two bars named after it, a glut of Manchester-based bands playing gigs here (see Hurts event attached) and the good grace to cheer New Order at Primavera Sound a few years back when they took to the stage with a hearty ‘Viva España!’; Mancunians are pretty much guaranteed a warm reception in Barcelona. This is all good news for Peter Hook, who pays homage to Joy Division’s debut album Unknown Pleasures at the Apolo this month.

It’s hard to overstate the influence Joy Division have had on modern music. They effectively pioneered the post-punk scene; adding rhythm, melody and a heavy dose of melancholy to the energy and anger of punk. Unknown Pleasures, released on Tony Wilson’s Factory records in 1979 was a stark, hypnotically brilliant debut, full of metallic drums, rumbling bass and Curtis’ deep monotone vocals. From it, the single ‘She’s Lost Control’ (allegedly about the singer’s worsening epilepsy) became a much-covered classic.

After Curtis’s suicide in 1980, the rest of the band went on to form New Order to great commercial success. But Joy Division’s cult status grew too and in the 30 years since the singer’s death, they’ve picked up legions of fans across the globe. Let’s hope Hook can do justice to the vocals and refrains from trying to emulate Curtis’ once distinctive ‘dead fly’ dance moves.