'No Wave' began as a small avant-garde music scene in New York in the late 70's, but it's influence to Minimal Wave music and Alternative or Post-Punk music as a whole is undeniable and still strongly present to this day. A reaction to Punk's recycling of rock n roll cliche and poking fun at the newly emerging New Wave's upbeat saccharine hues being all too much of the same old thing; No Wave took on dissonance where there was once melody and chaotic noise where there would otherwise be conforming structure. Taking influence from the atonality of free-jazz and the abrasive nihilism of the punk scene, No Wave became the catalyst for the emergence of iconic bands such as Sonic Youth, Swans and The Birthday Party. Here are 10 No Wave bands you need to hear;
- Dark Day
2. Theoretical Girls
Theoretical Girls were the short lived brainchild of Glenn Branca, but with maddeningly repetitive and dissonant arrangements in unison combined with calm yet urgently frantic vocals pushing on they were a perfect example of the apathy and frustration woven in to the genre.
3. DNA
DNA have become somewhat of a legend within the genre for their unusual approach to writing and performance. With a drummer who was originally a violinist and had no experience on drums and arrangements that at first glance seem to make absolutely no connection with each other they're certainly an acquired taste but I feel they're worth the experience even if they don't click with you. Guitarist Arto Lindsay went on to be heavily influential in various genres but DNA was his concept and a wildly successful one in the underground of No Wave.
4. Material
Material were a unique beast and even though they're not considered to be No Wave they were considered to be founding fathers of the genre by influencing the musicians who came to create it. They were mainly considered an Acid Jazz band but used samples of spoken word and had a heavy funk influence especially in their basslines, branching between genres frequently and working with legendary poet William S Burroughs.
5. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
The iconic Lydia Lunch, star of No Wave cinema and dedicated member of the music scene on vocals, none more needs said.
6. Pesteg Dred
Pesteg Dred have always been a difficult one to place in one genre, so why bother? They're an entity within themselves and embody teenage frustration in early 80's Denmark. "Their first and only album 'Years Of Struggle Against The Lies, The Stupidity And The Cowardice’ was written, recorded and produced during a weekend in December 1981. Unable to pay for the recording session, the master tapes were confiscated and the album remained unreleased until the summer of 1985 where it was issued as a bonus cassette with the Danish art magazine Atlas." -Dark Entries Records
7. James Chance & The Contortions
Brian Eno produced James Chance's first record in 1978, managing to capture his stage presence and urgent intensity. While funky and heavily jazz influenced with heavy bass reverb and distortion combined with synths which makes The Contortions manage to sound like they're trying to crawl out of their own skin and it's extremely cathartic to listen to.
8. Lucrate Milk
France is the home of some of the best early Synthwave and EBM in the world, so it's no surprise that No Wave art punkers Lucrate (Lucrative) Milk were extremely influential to the French punk scene and continue to influence an aura of their energy and sound in the scene to this day. They perfected non-musical music and noise to a fine art and they deserve more credit than they get.
9. The Del-Byzanteens
The Del-Byzanteens had more of a punk flavour than most other No Wave bands but their stripped down old school funky sound has more of a post-punk vibe despite it being almost timeless in it's sound which it lends itself surprisingly well to the scene. They used samples of ambient music concrete a la Talking Heads similarly to Material. Their lyrics are deceptively dark and somber for the upbeat sound of their music which is a beautiful juxtaposition. Compositionally these guys are most interesting to me alongside DNA.
10. Circle X
Finally we have Circle X, a fascinating blend of primitive beats and brooding, swelling bass and guitar vocalist Bruce Witsiepe sounds timid in the midst yet catches the listeners ear nonetheless. Born of a disbanded punk band in 1978, Circle X was the project of Bruce Witsiepe and Tony Pinotti. Bruce was the true mastermind of Circle X;
"After a short stint studying philosophy at the University of Delaware, Bruce turned to visual exploration at the Louisville School of Art in Kentucky. As a creator in the music/performance group Circle X he became a seer of broad, haunting ideas and dynamic compositions uniquely fired. Among his myriad expressions and observations was a deeply sensed dichotomy of burden and longing. "Belief" was a term of action for him. It could be considered that recognition of his fragile existence strengthened his natural inclination towards collaboration. He developed a strong drive to put people together with projects of grand stature or small piercing bulbs of endeavor. Simultaneously his own visuals, his individual works began to lean toward the ethereal, cellular/molecular, diaphanous of membrane, while his writing, appearing light on the page increased in its expressionistic, symbolic and gothic weight. Singular or collective, his oeuvre generated a recognizable but unexpected tone." - Visualaids
Circle X really deserves an entire album listen to really get in to what they were trying to convey, so I implore you to give them a shot.
-Amaris-
