Not every group’s female members were accorded a central creative role. Even the booklet essay (by the Flying Lizards’ Vivien Goldman) admits that Bow Wow Wow’s Anglo-Burmese frontwoman, Annabelle Lwin, was largely Malcolm McLaren’s “nymphet beat merchant.” Still, even the least of these tracks is vivid with musical and political possibility, and a healthy disregard for rock — not to mention punk — convention. Whether you call them “post-punk” or not, these are the artists forgotten — though not by Reynolds — in the rush to wrap one generation of boys-with-guitars in the laurels of another. They’re also the foremothers of some of today’s most vibrant pop, from Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” to M.I.A.’s “Galang.” Grlz may be subtitled “Women Ahead of Their Time,” but they’re right in step with ours.
Related:
APB, Post-punk prophet, Y'all come back now . . ., More 
- APB
Thanks largely to a massive revival in everything post-punk, the neo-new-wave resurgence, and the timely appearance of Simon Reynolds’s Rip It Up and Start Again , anything from the ’80s is fair game for vault diggers — even Scottish pop.
- Post-punk prophet
With a narrative arc that begins in the London dub dungeon of Public Image Limited and ends in the worldbeating semen storm of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the whole grand experiment of post-punk is tracked and given coherence.
- Y'all come back now . . .
I've always liked the idea of there being some weight to the "nines," meaning: if you're a year, and you're going to perch yourself at the very edge of a decade, you'd better be ready to represent.
- Harmonic convergences
Beyond their artful, crackling, dueling-guitar geometrics and layers of cunning rhythms, the Futureheads' most distinguishing and potent weapon is their four-part vocals.
- Harmonic convergence
“I don’t know what to do with myself,” Ross Millard mutters, shrugging at his mates as he sets his guitar down at the rear of the small stage at the back of Seattle’s East Street Records and ambles toward his mic stand.
- Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand
Refugees from the heady indie explosion of 2003, Franz and Death Cab are currently sharing space on a concert poster featuring an emo-like Band-Aid heart and a MySpace logo.
- Review: Franz Ferdinand's Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
On their third full-length, Franz Ferdinand continue to kick out that post-punk/disco thrust that made past singles "Take Me Out" and "Do You Want To" such loosened-skinny-tie pleasures.
- The Faint
It’s as if I were at a party where they’re endlessly playing “Dead or Alive” while some guy next to me mumbles nonsense in my ear and some kid in the corner hits random keys on a Juno.
- Going on sale: February 10
Franz Ferdinand & Death Cab, Thursday, Alkaline Trio, Neko Case, and more.
- VHS or Beta
The wordless, minute-long opener “Euglama,” though — that’s worth digging.
- Mando Diao
The rollicking rock of Mando Diao’s Hurricane Bar , slotted the Swedish group somewhere among the Strokes, the Hives, and Franz Ferdinand.
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