They continued to perform live, including at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, California; headlining Luna Fest in Coimbra, Portugal and a UK Tour in October 2023.

[4] The band play a stripped-down mix of punk rock, funk and dub, with a lyrical emphasis on the social and political ills of society.

[11] Gang of Four's music brought together an eclectic array of influences, ranging from the Frankfurt School of social criticism to the increasingly clear trans-Atlantic punk consensus.

[11] The band's debut single, "Damaged Goods" backed with "(Love Like) Anthrax" and "Armalite Rifle", was recorded in June 1978 and released on 10 December 1978, on Edinburgh's Fast Product label.

"Damaged Goods" was voted one of the 100 Greatest debut singles of all time in 2020's Rolling Stone Poll[13] Two Peel radio sessions followed, which, with their incendiary live performances, propelled the band to international attention and sold-out shows across Europe and North America.

In one stereo channel, King sings a "post-punk anti-love song",[15] comparing himself to a beetle trapped on its back ("and there's no way for me to get up") and equating love with "a case of anthrax, and that's some thing I don't want to catch."

According to critic Paul Morley, "The Gang spliced the ferocious precision of Dr. Feelgood's working-class blues with the testing avant-garde intrigue of Henry Cow.

Wilfully avoiding structural obviousness, melodic prettiness and harmonic corniness, the Gang's music was studded with awkward holes and sharp corners.

Dave Allen (who later co-founded Shriekback, King Swamp, Low Pop Suicide and the Elastic Purejoy) had left in 1981, and had been briefly replaced by Busta "Cherry" Jones, a sometime player with Parliament, Brian Eno and Talking Heads.

After working with Gang of Four to complete their North American tour obligations, Jones left and was replaced by Sara Lee, who was Robert Fripp's bassist in the League of Gentlemen.

Although "I Love a Man in a Uniform" from the album was the band's most radio-friendly song, it was banned in the UK shortly after its release because Britain went to war in the Falkland Islands.

After that, the band broke up, and Lee moved to the United States where she has worked with a number of artists, including The B-52's, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Ani DiFranco.

In January 2011, the band, now featuring Mark Heaney on drums, and Thomas McNeice on bass, released a new album, Content, which was called "their best record since the Seventies".

He was "one of the most influential musicians of the post-punk era, leading his band Gang of Four to huge acclaim with his intense, angular, staccato guitar work that blended rock with funk," said the Independent.

[20] Gang of Four's "brusque, angular style would directly or indirectly influence post-punk and indie-rock bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers (who chose Mr. Gill to produce their debut album), The Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Franz Ferdinand and Protomartyr," said the New York Times, adding: "Michael Hutchence of INXS once said that Gang of Four’s music 'took no prisoners,' adding, 'It was art meets the devil via James Brown.

'"[21] The NME wrote: "Great musicians encapsulate their age; the very best echo endlessly onwards, and Andy Gill...has been reverberating along the baseline of alternative culture for 40 years.

"[29] Andy Kellman, writing in AllMusic, argued that Gang of Four's "germs of influence" can be found in many rap metal groups "not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it".