Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental. Post-punk laid the groundwork for alternative rock by broadening the range of punk and underground music, incorporating elements of Krautrock (particularly the use of synthesizers and extensive repetition), Jamaican dub music (specifically in bass guitar), American funk, studio experimentation, and even punk's traditional polar opposite, disco, into the genre. It found a firm place in the 1980s indie scene, and led to the development of genres such as gothic rock, industrial music, and alternative rock.

The term "post punk" was used in 1977 by Sounds to describe Siouxsie and the Banshees. In 1980 critic Greil Marcus referred to "Britain's postpunk pop avant-garde" in a July 24, 1980 Rolling Stone article. He applied the phrase to such bands as Gang of Four, The Raincoats, and Essential Logic, which he wrote were "sparked by a tension, humor, and sense of paradox plainly unique in present-day pop music."

The turn of the 21st century saw a post-punk revival in British and American alternative rock, which soon started appearing in many different countries as well. The earliest sign of a revival was the emergence of various underground bands in the mid-90s. However, the first commercially successful bands, Interpol, Editors, Franz Ferdinand, and The Strokes, surfaced in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Modern post-punk is far more commercially successful than in the 1970s and 1980s.