Through The Crack In The Wall: The Secret History Of Josef K

by Johnnie Johnstone

‘ Everything was just so intense. There was an alienation and awkwardness about Josef K, but that was actually very true to life for me. Listening today I find really difficult because it brings back so many memories, so many ghosts and characters from the past .’ Paul Haig ‘ A lot of what Josef K were about was as much to do with what not to play as what to play. Josef K could never have anything rootsy, no blues scale. We were always looking for the modern .’ Malcolm Ross Josef K are the great lost post-punk band. Taking their name from the haunted protagonist of Franz Kafka’s existentialist novel The Trial , they posed for photographs before brutalist and gothic architecture and produced visionary, often incendiary music that felt like the product of perpetual anxiety. And it really was. Through The Crack In The Wall is the first ever biography of the band, tracing their story from their origins in the leafy suburbs of Edinburgh through to their untimely implosion four years later. It’s a tale of fun and frenzy, filled with highs and lows. From their thrilling live shows, which left onlookers spellbound, to more anxious occasions confronting a baying audience of rioting anarcho-punks in Brussels; from a brief spell as press darlings of the inkies to the fateful decision to pull their debut album just as pop stardom beckoned—one that continues to haunt them today. Drawing extensively on new interviews with the band members and those around them as well as contemporary press articles, the book explores the band’s inner workings and analyses their relationships with Postcard Records supremo Alan Horne, labelmates Orange Juice, and manager Allan Campbell. It re-evaluates their position in the pantheon of post-punk greats and considers how their music helped shape the UK independent scene of the eighties. More than anything else, though, the book’s primary purpose is to celebrate the incredible music Josef K made and consider what makes it more vital today than ever.

Genres: Music

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 11, 2024

Reviews

[Jim Levi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, straightforward biography of the (now) legendary Edingurgh band, Joseph K.
I was surprised to discover the author never actually saw the band - but he's clearly been diligent with his research.
I was lucky enough to be a student in Edinburgh from 1979 to 1983 and saw Josef K repeatedly - on the right night they were outstanding and produced some of the finest angular, disturbing and dark music of the era.
The biography tells the story of their failure to release a decent album when they were at their peak - and then the release of their actual album "The Only Fun in Town" - at the time this felt like deliberate self sabotage and almost a betrayal (we took our music very seriously) - I'd hoped for Edinburgh's answer to Unknown Pleasures, but instead got a tinny, trebly mess.
Since then, the original album has appeared, and we can get an idea of what could have been.
A biography that tells the sad story of promise unfulfilled but one that brings back great memories of a brilliant band.

[Stephen Dahill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really excellent read. It's made me go back and listen to Josef K recordings with fresh ears.

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s very good but feels slightly awkward at times, as if Johnstone can’t quite work out how to tell the story properly. It’s a valiant try and does make me want to listen to Josef K on repeat for a week, but feels a bit clumsy especially in terms of the bands that Josef K influenced (I think he’d be surprised by how many bands outside of the US, Canada and the U.K. seem to have channelled their sound even in part). It’s also definitely wrong about when their resurgence happened, because I was aware of them around the time Endless Soul came out on Marina in 1998 and was very aware by 1999, because they were very much part of the scene that Belle and Sebastian returned to the limelight. The bands may not have been channelling them yet, although I’d say a bunch of Creeping Bent people probably were, but the influence was significant and definitely growing