i was trying to think of bands from the us that sound like the definitive post-punk bands from the uk. i am looking for the angular, minimalistic, dark tone that you hear in bands like joy division, early cure, wire, gang of four, a certain ratio, pop group, swell maps, the fall, etc. as far as american bands like this go, i can only think of two at the moment. delta 5 and mission of burma. can anyone think of others? is this sound specific to it's region?

hmmm.
Here's a stab at it. These might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I think they're pretty close to the American side of post punk (my thinker was feeling lazy so I just skimmed the wiki article on post punk):

Richard Hell and the Voidoids
Pere Ubu
Suicide
Siouxsie & the Banshees
Sonic Youth
Swans

I would also heartily recommend the Flesh Eaters and the Gun Club, although their records aren't exactly dub inspired wooden kick and leaden snare type groovathon productions.

There's also some damn fine Aussie stuff out there, like the Birthday Party, the Church, the Scientists and the Saints.