>> Public Image Ltd.

In the wake of the Sex Pistols' breakup, John Lydon soon assembled Public Image Ltd, though PiL bore little resemblance to the Pistols' punk attack. Drawing on dub, Lydon and guitarist Keith Levene created a sound with as much space, though more stripped down and cold than the Jamaican style. With a moaned and clipped delivery, Lydon's vocals were as disorienting as the radically low bass and screechy guitars accompanying it. Public Image Ltd.'s sound, aimed to be outside of rock, helped to lay the foundations for later postpunk acts, though the band would shift to more pop-influenced sounds in later years.