The classic Depeche Mode song written as a retaliation to punk
The early 1980s marked a strange twist in the rock world. Although punk had wiped out all of the excessive sides of rock and roll, the new wave antecedent bands didn’t have anything to latch onto when moving into the world of music videos. And while acts like Depeche Mode may have been born out of the punk scene, their first steps into songwriting pivoted in the opposite direction.
Storming out of the gate on their album Speak and Spell, ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ became the band’s first smash, riding a dance beat and having a hook line driven by a synthesiser. Before Martin Gore became the group’s primary songwriter, keyboardist Vince Clarke was the brains behind this song, later recalling, “It was the first time I discovered dance music for myself, and to write a song around the rhythm was quite a revelation for me. ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ came out of that”.
Since acts like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols had been stripping things down to basics with loud guitars and snarling vocals, Depeche Mode’s approach to the song was a lot more mechanical, almost following in the same vein as mainstream acts like Duran Duran. While the music was enough to seal the deal with a record label, Dave Gahan would later recall the band holding onto their punk credentials when signing a contract, remembering, “We’d come from that punk ethic: we just wanted to make a single. [producer] Daniel [Miller] came along, and that’s all he had the money to do, so it worked. We wanted to keep in control. We never thought much beyond the next single and playing some gigs. That time was brilliant”.
The punk movement wasn’t too far behind the band, leading to some critics dismissing the album, with Rolling Stone not being kind to them. While the sleek sounds of primitive dance music may have suited Depeche Mode, it was not a sonic skin that would stay in for very long.
On the next handful of albums, the dynamic started to switch towards Gore writing most of the songs, as Clarke became disinterested and left before making the album A Broken Frame. When talking about both versions of the band, Clarke mentioned the stark contrast between his upbeat sound and the melancholy tone that Gore’s songwriting had, saying, “Martin Gore writes in a different way than I do, so that’s the main difference. And they’ve developed this kind of a rock feel to their music. I’m more a fan of pop music, or I’m more of a fan of writing pop music, that’s the most difference, I guess”.
While Depeche Mode would still fit comfortably into the world of pop for many years, their sound would often veer towards synthesisers’ sterile and foreboding side, using them to create a chilling atmosphere on songs like ‘People are People’ and ‘Personal Jesus’. Despite the sharp pivot in sound, Martin Gore stayed true to the punk ethic of following his muse and not giving a damn whether it was chart-friendly or not.
When most mainstream rock bands release their dark albums, it’s usually a sign that the end of their career is coming. As for Depeche Mode, they were just getting started the minute they decided to embrace the darkness.
