AROCK and roll mythology has grown up around the story of Joy Division, and with Ian Curtis’ death it seems to have that glossy finish, the same way that Nirvana have.

“That’s what happens to groups when they suffer: they become immortalised,” said bassist Peter Hook.

“Ian is always frozen in time, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and myself have aged around him, but he’s always the same.

“That’s a weird feeling.”

While Sumner and Morris are continuing to tour as New Order, Hook is contesting the use of their name, leading to the current legal war between the former members.

“At the moment it feels like I’ve split with the missus and come home to find that’s she chopped the dog in half, that’s how entrenched and bitter it has become between myself and New Order. They’ve resurrected the corpse of New Order — but it just feels like Frankenstein’s monster to me.”

Meanwhile, Hook is out on the road with his own band — Peter Hook and The Light — and he will be performing the first two New Order albums, Movement and Power, Corruption and Lies at Preston venue 53 Degrees tonight.

“We were just finding our feet after Ian’s death with the first album Movement, and they do feel almost like new songs to me, playing them again,” said Hook.

“It is amazing and testament to everything that New Order did that the music appears to have stood the test of time.”

Hook has also promised a ‘sonic workout’ of New Order’s mega-hit Blue Monday, adding: “Blue Monday was our commercial hit, but I’ve always thought Thieves Like Us was a better song.”

The Light was originally intended as a one-off memorial to Joy Division’s Ian Curtis but the positive reaction of fans and critics alike to the renditions of Unknown Pleasures and Closer has convinced Hook that’s it worth giving New Order the treatment.

“It is New Order’s music with no flab or flannel,” added Hook.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I went out on the road again.

“I thought the gigs would be full of old duffers like me, but they’re not.

“Weirdly, Joy Division are incredibly popular now with the younger generation and that makes me proud.”

  • Peter Hook and the Light, 53 Degrees, Preston, tonight. Tickets available on the door.