There were so many places for Joy Division to go after the triumphant, wildly divergent Closer, that it's physically painful to think of what lead singer Ian Curtis left behind when he opted to take his own life before the band's sophomore album was released. Closer is the result of a fiery blend of passion, contempt, and self-loathing. It's dark and chaotic, and each song took you further into the Rabbit Hole of a band without limitations, whose impulses sound so intensely constructed that it's actually kind of a disservice to call them "whims." There's a constant duality at play throughout Closer. The sexual slinkiness of "A Means To An End" is undercut by a suffocating tension, while the playful rhythm of "Twenty Four Hours" quickly succumbs to something more sinister, turning it almost spasmodic. It's top-to-bottom strange, haunting, choppy, erratic, and above all, beautiful. So, so beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnM9X0IgUmg
