RTSBBK#4: Josef K – It’s Kinda Funny

Signed to the legendary and achingly stylish Postcard Records label of Glasgow, who proclaimed that it was the “Sound of Young Scotland” during its short existence between 1979 and 1981, this Edinburgh-based band, named after the protagonist of Frank Kafka’s The Trial, remain the quintessential embodiment of indie-art-school-cool to this day. (Just ask Franz Ferdinand, who have clearly embraced the Josef K aesthetic). Always in the long post-punk shadow cast by their more well-known and commercially accessible label-mates, Glaswegian band Orange Juice, Josef K were heavily influenced by the likes of art-punk bands, Televison and Pere Ubu, and the American No-wave movement. This song, released in 1980, was their third single, and appears on the only studio album released during their existence, The Only Fun in Town (1981), and combines a strong feeling of reflective melancholy with an air of impending menace. It’s a typical Josef K song – jangling guitars, thought-provoking and cryptically ambiguous lyrics, full of metaphor and imagery, and a strong melody, though a less up-tempo track than was usual. Great record.