It’s the late 1970s in New York City. The first wave of punk had gone and by 1978 many claimed that punk had died. New York City was a ruin due to the severity of the economical and political issues of the time. The financial crisis and the increasing crime rate throughout the city led many to believe the big apple was irrecoverable. However, something was beginning in Downtown New York, a group of so called punk rejects formed a movement that may have not lasted decades but made a change in the world inside and outside of underground music and art.
No Wave started to appear in 1976. It is hard to describe what No Wave exactly is, which is what made it different to other art movements at the time, it was simply indefinable. While new wave bands such as The Cure and Siouxsie and The Banshees emerged from the UK, No Wave was starting in underground New York. No Wave rejected tradition, even tradition that belonged to many underground art communities at the time. When it came to the sound of the No Wave movement, a mixture of genres such as funk, punk-rock, noise, jazz and avant garde are involved in terms of stylistic influence. Artists such as Mars, DNA, Theoretical Girls, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and James Chance and the Contortionists began a sound that was unfamiliar, discomforting, unsettling yet fresh, obscure and unique to the music that was around at the time. Most of these artists were involved in the 1978 compilation album by British music producer Brian Eno ‘No New York’ . as no wave music could have only been heard in clubs or shows, this compilation album was consequential to the movement’s progression as well as The Contortionists releasing ‘Buy’ a year after, being the first No Wave band to release a full record.
Songs such as The Closest by The Jerks and Dish it Out by The Contortionists, both on the No New York compilation album, use unconventional instruments mixed with a classic no wave sound. The Closest is a fusion of a strained alto saxophone, abrasive drums, and a sinister bassline along with Lydia lunches crying vocals screaming lyrics that embodied the city that was dying in front of these artists. James Chance and the Contortionists’ Dish it Out is more melodic in comparison to other No Wave, however it uses the saxophone in more abrupt frequencies, pairing its sound with a rhythmic yet heavy guitar and Chance’s strained, unrecognizable voice. The use of the saxophone, commonly used in jazz, along with the punk influenced instrumental and avant garde lyrics, it is no surprise that No Wave is known to be one of the most experimental and pleasantly unsettling music movements since punk. The Contortionists were also one of the first bands to create the derivative forms of no wave such as punk jazz and avant funk, as they and many others looked outside of rock and punk for inspiration and brought this new sound to underground New York.
Even with so much more potential to expand,, the No Wave movement was a transient one. Only lasting from 1976 to 1980, the shortness of the era did not stop those after it from being inspired by the sound of No Wave. When it comes to post- no wave, Swans and Sonic Youth have been the most influence by the era and with time influenced generations of musicians later on. Swans first album ‘filth’ released in 1983 shows heavy influence from bands like Theoretical Girls. Without a question Swans’ first album was considered No Wave. The grand range of genres Swans have explored may be because of the No Wave mindset of overstepping musical boundaries and forgetting convention. Swans have gone onto transform music and influence bands like Black Midi. Sonic youth’s first few EP’s and albums were of the No Wave genre. After being signed to Glenn Branca’s, of theoretical girls, label and releasing their first self titled album in 1981, a few following albums such as Confusion is Sex were also considered No Wave, it was not until the release of Evol, released in 1986, where Sonic Youth started experimenting with noise rock. However, Sonic Youth were the bridge between No Wave and Alternative Rock which gave them an authentic sound. This authentic sound has gone to inspire over three decades of musicians like Nirvana and Interpol.
No wave is an era that is often forgotten but should be remembered. Without No wave, many of the greatest post punk artists would not experiment nor think outside the norm of the underground without the movement. No wave is the accurate portrayal of a group of young people in a big city managing to artistically express themselves during the uncertain times. No wave is simply the musical embodiment of 1970s New York and got there by ignoring the convention.