1980: Angular (Patreon)

This bracket is the gloomier, artsier, greatcoat-clad older brother (and occasionally sister) of the Nerds grouping. It’s 1980 as the point when “post-punk” began to shift into “indie”, a shift as much structural (the UK Indie Charts began being published in January) as sonic.

And on some tracks you can hear changes taking place, the bass-driven austerity of post-punk beginning to lift. The original, 1978 single of The Teardrop Explodes’ “Sleeping Gas” is minimal and hypnotic - this 1980 album re-recording adds horns, turning the song into a loping psychedelic groove which fits in with the rest of the band’s colourful debut. Fellow Liverpudlians Echo And The Bunnymen also aimed for a richer, fuller sound on their debut. Up in Scotland, the Associates were still paying off their Bowie debts, but pointing a way out of post-punk in the process - and Orange Juice’s agitated jangle offered another one.

All this may give the impression that I’m more interested in the post-post-punk tracks here than in the stuff by Joy Division, The Cure, Magazine or The Fall that defined the sound. Not so - the best-known songs in the bracket are that for a reason. There are different tracks I’d personally choose by most of the bands in these groups, but “Atmosphere” and “A Forest” are inescapable inclusions.

But they’re also the definitive word by those groups in this style. It’s not quite true to say that Ian Curtis’ death immediately changed the sound of post-punk - the surviving members of Joy Division, and bands like The Cure, kept making music in this dour, bare-branched style for a year or two before beginning to hit on viable next steps. But it hastened an inevitable transition.

POTENTIAL WINNER: With “Love Will Tear Us Apart” excluded, “Atmosphere” is the Joy Divison track Most Likely To. (The ferociously bleak “Atrocity Exhibition” is also in this bracket, though.) It’s easy to forget how extraordinary a record it is - maybe Curtis’ greatest vocal over Martin Hannett’s tundra of synth washes. Too stark to win, perhaps, but it’ll have a strong run.

DARK HORSE: Lack of streams gives Magazine’s “A Song From Under The Floorboards” a kinder draw than many of the big tracks here. Much beloved by Magazine fans, it has enough of a wider rep (thanks partly to its magnificent opening line!) to make a strong showing.

BEST TRACK: It’s not often I name The Cure in this section but “A Forest” is something special - one of those songs where you can hear a band taking a huge jump forward in imagination and execution. A perfect marriage of vibe and lyric, and absolutely distilled 1980-ness.

DISCOVERY: Towards the end of a rather ominous bracket, Australia’s The Dugites offer some melodic sunshine with “In Your Car”, which is just spindly enough to fit in here but a lot splashier and happier. A lovely find.

DON’T MISS: Vini Reilly’s plangent soloing on “Sketch For Summer”, which offers a tantalising glimpse at a version of post-punk not dominated by woe.