Noise rock
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{{citations needed|date=July 2008}}
{{Infobox Music genre
|name=Noise rock
|stylistic_origins=[[Punk rock]]<br/>[[Industrial music|Industrial]]<br/>[[Noise music]]<br/>[[Psychedelic rock]]
|popularity=None in the mainstream, but large underground following.
|cultural_origins=1980's United States, Australia, England, and Japan
|instruments=[[Guitar]], [[Bass guitar|Bass]], [[Drum kit|Drums]], [[Electronic musical instrument|Electronics]]
}}
[[Image:Sonic Youth live 20050707.jpg|thumb| 150px |[[Sonic Youth]]]]
[[Image:Melt-Banana 2005-11-29 22-54CET Frankfurt.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Melt Banana]]]]
[[Image:Ries-03.jpg|thumb| 150px|[[Lightning Bolt]]]]
[[Image:Neptunek.jpg|right|thumb| 150px|[[Neptune (band)|Neptune]]]]
'''Noise rock''' describes one variety of [[post-punk]] [[rock music]] that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the typical instrumentation and iconography of [[rock music|rock]], but incorporates [[atonality]] and especially [[consonance and dissonance|dissonance]], and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.
== Visual and conceptual elements ==
Many noise rock groups have a confrontational performance style which mirrors the aggression of their music. This reaches back to [[the Who]] and [[Jimi Hendrix]], who were famous for destroying their instruments on stage, and [[Iggy Pop]], of [[the Stooges]], and [[Darby Crash]], of [[the Germs]], who lacerated their bodies in a spectacle comparable to the [[performance art]] of [[Chris Burden]] and [[Vito Acconci]]. [[Vito Acconci|Acconci]] was also a significant inspiration for [[no wave]]. Some performers, [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]], [[the Birthday Party (band)|the Birthday Party]], and the early period of [[Black Dice]], for example, also physically assaulted audience members, on occasion.
1980s noise rock musicians tended to adopt a Spartan, utilitarian mode of dress following the [[hardcore punk]] ethos and in partial reaction against the more ostentatious elements of [[punk fashion]]. [[Steve Albini]] articulated a ethical stance that emphasized restraint, irony, and self-sufficiency. The [[Butthole Surfers]] were an exception in their desire to dress as bizarrely as possible. Several bands also made public reference to drug use, particularly [[LSD]] ([[Jimi Hendrix]], [[the Butthole Surfers]]) and [[heroin]] ([[the Velvet Underground]], [[Royal Trux]]). Many contemporary noise rock musicians, such as [[the Locust]] and [[Lightning Bolt]], have a very theatrical mode of presentation and wear costumes. Some bands incorporate visual displays, such as film or video art.
==History==
===1960s===
The origins of noise rock are in the first rock musicians who explored extreme dissonance and electronic [[audio feedback|feedback]]. This begins with commercially successful figures like [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[the Who]], and [[Neil Young]]. Underground rock musicians such as [[the Stooges]], [[the Velvet Underground]], and [[the MC5]] incorporated elements of [[free jazz]] and [[minimalist music|minimalism]]. More obscure musicians, such as [[the Monks]], San Francisco's [[Fifty Foot Hose]], and Japan's [[Les Rallizes Dénudés]], also incorporated the effects of dissonance.
===1970s===
The German groups described as [[Krautrock]] are significant influences on later noise rock, particularly [[Can (band)|Can]] and [[Faust (band)|Faust]]. [[Lou Reed]]'s 1975 album ''[[Metal Machine Music]]'', which entirely eschewed song structure in favor of a minimalist wave of guitar feedback, also anticipated and influenced many later developments in noise rock. The classic punk rock groups ([[the Sex Pistols]], [[the Clash]], and [[the Ramones]]) tended to avoid extreme dissonance, preferring a more traditional, straight-ahead approach to rock'n'roll. One exception was the L.A. punk group [[the Germs]], who pursued punk rock with an amateurish, free-form tenacity. Subsequent [[post-punk]] groups delved much deeper into noise.
The New York [[No Wave]] scene, featuring such artists as [[Mars]] and [[Teenage Jesus & the Jerks]], which coalesced around 1978, was also an essential development in noise rock. While [[no wave]] included a variety of post-punk experimental tendencies (different groups incorporated elements of [[free jazz]], [[soul]], and [[disco]]), the most abrasive groups would find their innovations streamlined into noise rock tradition. [[Chrome (band)|Chrome]], from San Francisco, produced their own style of psychedelic punk, which shared some common ground with the No Wave groups.
Australian noise rock also developed in the late 1970s. [[The Birthday Party (band)|The Birthday Party]] took a great deal of influence from [[rockabilly]], and is also formative on the [[deathrock]] genre, while [[the Scientists]] anticipated [[grunge]].
===1980s===
A number of noise rock bands emerged from many different scenes in North America in the 1980s. These included [[the Jesus Lizard]] and [[Big Black]] (Chicago), [[Butthole Surfers]], [[Scratch Acid]], and the [[Houston Noise Bands]] such as [[The Pain Teens]] (Texas), [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]] (Los Angeles), [[the Melvins]] (Montasano, Washington), [[Sonic Youth]], [[Swans (band)|Swans]], and [[Helmet (band)|Helmet]] (New York), [[Fugazi]], [[Pussy Galore (band)|Pussy Galore]] and [[Royal Trux]] (Washington DC), among many others. These bands were initially referred to as "pigfuck" by [[Robert Christgau]], in a reference to [[Bernardo Bertolucci|Bertolucci]]'s ''[[Last Tango in Paris]]'', though the increasingly melodic tendencies of many of these groups quickly rendered the tag misleading. The Minneapolis label [[Amphetamine Reptile]] released a great deal of music in this tradition.
British noise rock included [[the Birthday Party (band)|the Birthday Party]] (who had emigrated from Australia), [[This Heat]], [[the Fall (band)|the Fall]], [[Scritti Politti]], [[the Pop Group]], [[Swell Maps]], and [[the Jesus and Mary Chain]]. [[industrial music|Industrial]] groups (such as [[Throbbing Gristle]]) developed in parallel to, and sometimes in collaboration with, the noise rock groups.
[[The Birthday Party (band)|The Birthday Party]], [[Lydia Lunch]], [[Diamanda Galás]], and [[Foetus (band)|Foetus]] all expatriated to West Berlin in the early '80s, where they developed their own noise rock scene, along with the native German group [[Einstürzende Neubauten]]. This scene was contemporaneous with the [[Neue Deutsche Welle]] tendency.
Many of these bands went on to temper the initial ferocity and amelodicism of their approach with an appreciation for rock history. [[Sonic Youth]] spoke highly of [[the Beatles]], [[Pussy Galore (band)|Pussy Galore]] covered [[the Rolling Stones]], [[Black Flag]] drew inspiration from [[Black Sabbath]], and the [[Butthole Surfers]] worked with [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] and emulated [[Jimi Hendrix]]. [[Nick Cave]], the former singer of [[the Birthday Party (band)|the Birthday Party]], continued his work with noise rock, but also explored ballads and literate, complex songwriting in the tradition of [[Leonard Cohen]].
Other noise rock groups strived to further distance themselves from rock tradition. Beginning in 1986, the British group [[Napalm Death]] created "[[grindcore]]" by melding the noise-rock of [[the Swans]] with [[crust punk]] and [[thrash metal]]. While later [[grindcore]] groups tended to move in the direction of [[death metal]], American bands such as [[Anal Cunt]] extended the dissonant, free-form tendencies of [[grindcore]] into the [[Grindcore#Subgenres|noisegrind]] style.
A similar scene also began to develop in Osaka, Japan, spearheaded by [[Hanatarash]] and the [[Boredoms]], who composed extremely short, fast "songs", marked by blasts of rhythm (reflecting an influence from grindcore), screaming, and overloaded guitars. Boredoms singer [[Yamantaka Eye]] also worked with the New York City [[jazzcore]] group [[Naked City (band)|Naked City]]. The [[Boredoms]] eventually evolved towards a far more meditative sound, taking inspiration from [[Krautrock]]. [[Gore Beyond Necropsy]], [[Ground Zero (band)|Ground Zero]], [[Zeni Geva]], [[Guitar Wolf]], and [[Melt-Banana]] extended the Japanese noise rock style. These bands also reflected the impact of the [[Japanoise]] scene pioneered by [[Merzbow]].
The British [[shoegazing]] groups developed an entirely distinct form of noise rock. Taking equal inspiration from the [[dream pop]] groups, in addition to aggressive rock like [[the Jesus and Mary Chain]] and [[Sonic Youth]], [[My Bloody Valentine]] produced a warm, feminine, but also dissonant, formless and psychedelic genre that belongs in the noise rock tradition.
Still other noise rock groups explored irregular time signatures and rhythmic experimentation. These groups came to be referred to as [[math rock]]. [[Post-hardcore]], some [[emo]] bands (particularly [[screamo]]) and [[riot grrl]] groups also take influence from noise rock.
===1990s===
The '80s noise rock bands were formative influences on [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] and [[Hole (band)|Hole]], and as a result had some mainstream currency during the period when so-called [[grunge]] was played on the radio. [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]'s album ''[[In Utero]]'' is particularly evident in its debts to '80s noise rock, and was produced by [[Big Black]] frontman and noise rock icon [[Steve Albini]]. [[Industrial rock]] groups, such as [[Ministry]], [[Nine Inch Nails]], and [[White Zombie (band)|White Zombie]], were also indebted to noise rock.
Some [[hardcore punk]] groups associated with [[Born Against]], such as [[Rorschach (band)|Rorschach]] also took on associations with noise rock. The subsequent [[power violence]] scene was similar to [[Grindcore#Subgenres|noisegrind]], with [[Man Is the Bastard]] eventually dissolving into unstructured [[noise music]]. Contemporaneous groups like [[Neurosis (band)|Neurosis]] and [[Today Is the Day]] began to further blend noise rock with [[extreme metal]], including the emphasis on [[tremolo]] in [[black metal]]. Much of the resulting innovations have been incorporated into the more experimental practitioners of [[metalcore]], such as [[Integrity (band)|Integrity]], [[Rorschach (band)|Rorschach]], [[Converge]], [[Botch]], and [[Dillinger Escape Plan]]. This style is referred to as [[mathcore]].
Beginning in the mid-90s, Providence became the center of a new crop of noise-rock bands, largely a product of the [[RISD]] scene. These groups tended to owe less to traditional rock song structures, and were more minimal and drone-like. These included [[Lightning Bolt (band)|Lightning Bolt]], [[Arab on Radar]], [[Landed (band)|Landed]], [[Six Finger Satellite]], [[Men's Recovery Project]], and [[Pink and Brown]]. [[Black Dice]] were originally part of this scene, but moved to Brooklyn, where they aligned themselves with groups like [[Gang Gang Dance]]. These groups were also related, in part, to the San Diego scene that emerged from [[screamo]], most famously [[the Locust]], and to [[Wolf Eyes]], from Ann Arbor.
[[Mike Patton]] is also a custodian and advocate of the noise rock scene, maintaining the label [[Ipecac Recordings|Ipecac]].
===2000s===
NYC groups such as the [[Yeah Yeah Yeahs]], the [[Liars (band)|Liars]] and a LA group called [[No Age]] draw on noise rock.
== Related genres ==
[[Noise music]]<br/>
[[Punk rock]]<br/>
[[Punk jazz]]<br/>
[[Post-hardcore]]<br/>
[[Dance-punk]]<br/>
[[Industrial music]]<br/>
[[Hardcore punk]]<br/>
[[Math rock]]<br/>
[[Grindcore]]<br/>
[[Shoegazing]]<br/>
[[Mathcore]]<br/>
First wave [[screamo]]
==Time line of notable noise rock performers==
This time line shows some of the most notable noise rock artists.
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id:noi value:rgb(0.75,1,0.75) legend:Noiserock
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from:1967 till:1997 color:noi text:[[Les Rallizes Denudes]]
from:1975 till:1981 color:now text:[[Throbbing Gristle]]
from:1977 till:1979 color:now text:[[Theoretical girls (Glenn Branca)]]
from:1978 till:1982 color:now text:[[DNA (band)|DNA]]
from:1977 till:2008 color:now text:[[Half Japanese]]
from:1979 till:2008 color:noi text:[[The Ex (band)|The Ex]]
from:1979 till:1987 color:noi text:[[Flipper (band)|Flipper]]
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from:1990 till:1995 color:noi text:[[Flipper (band)|Flipper]]
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from:1980 till:2008 color:har text:[[Merzbow]]
from:1981 till:1984 color:now text:[[Birthday Party]]
from:1982 till:1984 color:now text:[[Swans (band)|Swans until Young God (EP)]]
from:1982 till:1987 color:noi text:[[Big Black]]
from:1982 till:2008 color:noi text:[[Butthole Surfers]]
from:1983 till:1996 color:noi text:[[Killdozer (band)|Killdozer]]
from:1983 till:2008 color:noi text:[[Sonic Youth]]
from:1985 till:1990 color:noi text:[[Pussy Galore (band)|Pussy Galore]]
from:1986 till:2008 color:noi text:[[Boredoms]]
from:1987 till:1989 color:noi text:[[Rapeman]]
from:1987 till:1998 color:mat text:[[The Jesus Lizard]]
from:1989 till:1992 color:mat text:[[Slint]]
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from:2005 till:2008 color:mat text:[[Slint]]
from:1989 till:1992 color:noi text:[Naked City (band)|Naked City]]
from:1990 till:1995 color:mat text:[[Drive Like Jehu]]
from:1990 till:1998 color:mat text:[[Polvo]]
from:1991 till:2008 color:mat text:[[deus (band) |deus]]
from:1991 till:2002 color:noi text:[[Unwound]]
from:1992 till:2008 color:mat text:[[Shellac (band)|Shellac]]
from:1992 till:2008 color:har text:[[Melt Banana]]
from:1995 till:2008 color:har text:[[The Locust]]
from:1995 till:2008 color:noi text:[[Deerhoof]]
from:1996 till:2008 color:now text:[[Neptune (band)|Neptune]]
from:1996 till:2008 color:har text:[[Lightning Bolt (band)|Lightning Bolt]]
from:1996 till:2008 color:har text:[[Wolf Eyes]]
from:1997 till:2008 color:har text:[[Black Dice]]
from:1999 till:2005 color:noi text:[[Mclusky]]
from:1999 till:2008 color:noi text:[[The Intelligence (band)|The Intelligence]]
from:2001 till:2008 color:noi text:[[Erase Errata]]
from:2001 till:2008 color:noi text:[[Test Icicles]]
from:2005 till:2008 color:noi text:[[No Age]]
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== Labels ==
The following is a list of record labels that specialize in noise rock.
{{col-begin-small}}
{{col-3}}
* [[Amphetamine Reptile Records]]
* [[Bulb Records]]
* [[Ecstatic Peace!]]
* [[Gold Standard Laboratories]]
* [[Hanson Records]]
{{col-3}}
* [[Homestead Records]]
* [[In the Red Records]]
* [[Ipecac Recordings]]
* [[Load Records]]
* [[Narnack Records]]
{{col-3}}
* [[Silent Explosion]]
* [[Skin Graft Records]]
* [[Sonic Youth Recordings|SYR]]
* [[Three One G]]
* [[Touch and Go Records]]
{{Col-end}}
==External links==
* [http://altmusic.about.com/od/genresstyles/p/noise_rock.htm About.com Profile of the Noise Rock Genre] – another, slightly different, definition and history of Noise Rock.
== Bibliography ==
[[Miguel Álvarez-Fernández|Álvarez-Fernández, Miguel]] (2005). ''[http://www.hz-journal.org/n9/fernandez.html Dissonance, Sex and Noise: (Re)Building (Hi)Stories of Electroacoustic Music]''. In ICMC 2005: Free Sound Conference Proceedings. Barcelona: International Computer Music Conference; International Computer Music Association; SuviSoft Oy Ltd.<br/>
Azzerad, Michael (2002). ''Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991''. Back Bay Books. ISBN-10: 0316787531<br/>
Hegarty, Paul (2007). ''Noise/Music: A History''. Continuum International. ISBN-10: 0826417272<br/>
Heylin, Clinton (1993). ''From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock''. ISBN-10: 1556525753<br/>
Masters, Marc (2008). ''No Wave''. Black Dog Publishing. ISBN-10: 190615502X<br/>
McNeil, Legs and Gillian McCain (1997). ''Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk''. Grove Press. ISBN-10: 0802142648<br/>
Mudrian, Albert (2000). ''Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore''. Feral House. ISBN-10: 193259504X<br/>
Reynolds, Simon (1990). ''Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock''. Serpent's Tail. ISBN-10: 1852421991<br/>
Reynolds, Simon (1995). ''The Sex Revolts''. Serpent's Tail. ISBN-10: 1852422548<br/>
Reynolds, Simon (2006). ''Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984''. Penguin. ISBN-10: 0143036726.
[[Category:Punk genres]]
[[Category:Alternative music]]
[[Category:Noise music]]
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