Noise Rock

tagStarted c. 1981Peak 1986-1996Last big hit still active

Located in 3 routes

Rock → Experimental / Noise / Post-Rock Punk / Hardcore → Art-Punk / Synth-Punk Alternative / Indie → Noise Pop / Noise Rock / No Wave

Noise Rock is punk and post-punk pushed into abrasion: scraping guitars, ugly bass, repetition, feedback, shouted or deadpan vocals and riffs that feel like machinery grinding against a wall. It rejects classic-rock warmth and metal's virtuoso finish, favoring tension, impact and hostile texture. The songs can groove, but the groove usually feels damaged. It is rock music as pressure, not release.

History

No Wave, post-punk and hardcore all fed noise rock, with Sonic Youth, Swans, Big Black, Scratch Acid, Butthole Surfers and Live Skull establishing early vocabularies. Touch and Go, Amphetamine Reptile, Blast First and related labels carried the 1980s and 1990s explosion through The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, Unsane, Helmet and many others. Noise rock later influenced post-hardcore, sludge, math rock and underground heavy music.

Defining artists

Big BlackSpotify YouTube
Sonic YouthSpotify YouTube
SwansSpotify YouTube
Scratch AcidSpotify YouTube
Butthole SurfersSpotify YouTube
The Jesus LizardSpotify YouTube

Show 2 more

ShellacSpotify YouTube
UnsaneSpotify YouTube

Essential listening

Kerosene — Big BlackSpotify YouTube
Death Valley '69 — Sonic YouthSpotify YouTube
New Mind — SwansSpotify YouTube
Cannibal — Scratch AcidSpotify YouTube
Sweat Loaf — Butthole SurfersSpotify YouTube
Nub — The Jesus LizardSpotify YouTube

Show 2 more

Prayer to God — ShellacSpotify YouTube
Scrape — UnsaneSpotify YouTube

← Explore Punk / Hardcore

Sources

Touch and Go and Amphetamine Reptile histories
AllMusic noise rock overview
No Wave histories
band discographies