In the mid-late 1980s, Moss Icon pioneered a progressive, highly emotive sound that stood in stark contrast to just about everything even remotely considered punk-rock at the time. In retrospect, they more resembled an inspired marriage of the bleak post-punk leanings of Joy Division with the raucous riffage of the Wipers, albeit considerably less accessible thanks to Moss Icon's more sinister tone, exploratory arrangements, and frontman Jonathan Vance's almost stream-of-conscious sociopolitical rampages.