Other names Noise punk | Cultural origins c. 1968–1980s | |
Stylistic origins Experimental rock
punk rock
no wave
minimalism
industrial
New York hardcore Typical instruments Electric guitars
electronics | ||
Noise rock (sometimes noise punk) is a diverse style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing from no wave, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extreme levels of distortion through the use of electric guitars, and less frequently, electronic instrumentation, either to provide percussive sounds or to contribute to the overall arrangement. Some groups are tied to song structures, such as Sonic Youth. Although they are not representative of the entire genre, they helped popularize noise rock among alternative rock audiences by incorporating melodies into their droning textures of sound, which set a template that numerous other groups followed.
History
While the music had been around for some time, the term "noise rock" was coined in the 1980s to describe an offshoot of punk groups with an increasingly abrasive approach. An archetypal album is the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat (1968). Treblezine's Joe Gross credits the "cult classic" with being the first noise rock album, accordingly, "perhaps it’s an obvious starting point, but it’s also the starting point. Period." Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore explained: "Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk has been co-opted, and this subterranean noise music and the avant-garde folk scene have replaced it."
Starting in the 1990s, noise punk developed mostly as a form of party music, with the band Lightning Bolt serving as key players in the 2000s noise punk scene in Providence, Rhode Island.