With the DIY tradition that outlined the early days of punk rock, post-punk trailblazers Gang of 4 had been emboldened to make their mark, regardless of frontman Jon King by no means having sung or late guitarist Andy Gill by no means having performed in a bunch earlier than.

Talking within the new concern of Uncut, founding drummer Hugo Burnham says the group had been beforehand trepidatious about their probabilities as a fledgling band, earlier than punk got here alongside to tear up the rulebook.

“Earlier than that, we’d have regarded on the sleeve of Pink Floyd’s [1969 album] Ummagumma, with their truckloads of kit, and thought, ‘We might by no means try this,’” Burnham says.

“However after punk rock you didn’t really feel you wanted to be musically competent or have a number of costly gear. It was simply three chords, one amp, a stolen microphone and anyplace there was electrical energy. And off we went.”

After practically 50 years within the recreation, Gang of 4 stand as one of many jewels within the crown of punk rock, and their affect has been far-reaching.

In the identical Uncut function, Rage Towards the Machine firebrand Tom Morello names Andy Gill as one in all his “main influences” as a guitarist, commenting on how he “approached the instrument in a completely irreverent method”.

“Not The Ramones’ irreverence the place you solely wanted three chords, however the concept that any sound the guitar might make could possibly be spliced right into a funk groove or off-kilter riff,” Morello says.

“Andy was actually like a lion on the plains of guitar gamers. He attacked the instrument like a raptor, however the band’s ideological viewpoint didn’t cease with the lyrics. It was your complete method that they approached making music.”

Pink Scorching Chili Peppers bassist Flea additionally notes how Gang of 4’s debut album Leisure! “modified all the things” for him.

“I grew up liking jazz and thought rock music was for silly folks till I heard Leisure!” he says. “Collectively they created one thing so profound that after that I didn’t care about virtuosity anymore. It opened me as much as emotion and inventive imaginative and prescient.”