Post-rock is when you get drunk and chase girls.

"What really is post-rock?" has been a question asked by many over the years. Many reject the label; particularly post-rock 'superstars' Godspeed You! Black Emperor (who would rather be described as punk) and Mogwai (the title of this post comes from an interview with Mogwai bassist Dominic Aitchison here).
Are they right?
Is post-rock a useless descriptor that has had it's day? I am going to argue against that, and argue that while post-rock might not describe the music, it does describe the scene that the music develops in.

I have noticed that while the sound of post-rock can change wildly from band to band, the following that it has is relatively static. One post-rock fan is likely to like many different post-rock bands, no matter how different their sound is.

Are we to assume that post-rock fans are more eclectic in their tastes than the majority? While this is perhaps the case, it seems a far more satisfactory conclusion to say that there is something inherently similar about post-rock that goes beyond the sound; the scene it inhabits, and the ethos surrounding it.

And this isn't isolated to post-rock. I was given the example earlier (by Josh) of using the term "emo rock". In this context "emo" doesn't really describe anything about the music. (The music is, as was pointed out to me, "american whiny alternative pop-rock"). "Emo" describes the scene; the look, the attitude, etc. and it does a really good job at doing that.

Post-rock also does a really good job at describing the scene. Bands like Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur ros, Battles, 65dos, Explosions in the Sky, Maybeshewill (do I need to name more?)... all sound different, but from my experience they have very similar fans. The same people tend to like this post-rock band and that post-rock band. While post-rock perhaps isn't a great descriptor for the sound, it is useful in setting the scene, and letting someone know if they are likely to enjoy the sort of sound that a band is producing.

So, in short, post-rock doesn't describe sounds, it describes the scene that the sounds come out of, and I for one think it does a pretty good job at that.