Post punk pioneers Joy Division have attracted their fair share of irony lately. In the wake of The Wombats and oven gloves, Disney have produced a T-shirt ‘inspired’ by the iconic cover art for debut album Unknown Pleasures. The image is a series of pulses from a dying star, brilliantly encapsulating the ethereal quality of the album, and more recently the face of Mickey Mouse.

Joy Division’s prominence in pop culture owes much to the suicide of Ian Curtis, which unfortunately threatens to overshadow his lyrical talents and the unique enigmatic music of the band. Often lazily dismissed as gothic, their bleak sound is unparalleled. Frenetic, confrontational riffs are replaced by heavy recurring bass lines and tight, controlled drum beats; tamed guitar prowling in the background. Curtis adopts a strange, creaking baritone borrowed from idol Jim Morrison.

The characteristic strangeness of this album owes much to the production of Martin Hannett. The band themselves initially resented the recording for draining the vibrancy of their sound. Unknown Pleasures certainly lacks the frenetic energy of Joy Division’s live performances, but its sparse, nebulous air isolates desperate introspective vocals to stunning effect.

The album opener “Disorder” boasts a catchy, almost uplifting guitar riff offset by detached lyrics “I’ve got the spirit, but lost the feeling”. Afterwards the album is relentless in evoking its menacing, oppressive atmosphere. On “Day of the Lords” Curtis cries “Where will it end?” as percussion and heavy, recurrent bass thunder in reply. Restrained instrumentals create tension released in controlled bursts of ferocity on tracks such as the driving “Shadowplay”.

For the most part, the unsettling voice and lyrics of Curtis are left to explore violent images of industrial decay amidst fluttering electronics, shattering glass and the repetitious, inexorable pound of heavy bass and drums. There is strangeness and sincerity throughout this bleakly uncompromising album which ensures the integrity of its music in the face of cheap merchandising. Besides, not even Disney’s colourful ensemble could make songs like “New Dawn Fades” sound child friendly.