Far Out 40: The best songs from the no wave explosion
The no wave movement emerged in New York during the late-1970s and early 1980s, standing in resistance to the thriving new-wave scene. An overlooked period of music history, no wave was vitally important, despite being short-lived.
No wave is hard to define – that was the point of the movement. However, bands that became heavily involved with the scene, such as James Chance and The Contortions, DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Theoretical Girls, and Mars, heavily experimented with the type of noise they were making. Focusing on dissonance and atonality whilst incorporating elements of free jazz, disco, punk, and avant-garde, no wave bands were preoccupied with nihilism, which they channelled into their sound.
To discuss no wave is to discuss New York. In the mid to late 1970s, a recession hit New York, and poverty and crime took hold of the city. Artist Maripol was interviewed in the landmark no wave documentary Blank City, where she said, “All the ‘straight’ people were trying to get out of New York, but all the freaks… we were trying to get in.”
Furthermore, Lydia Lunch claimed that in New York: “There were just blocks and blocks of abandoned buildings, set on fire nightly from people sleeping under tea lights.”
Inspired by 1960s New York, where transgressive artists such as Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground were figures of counterculture, an artistic scene flourished in the depressive conditions of late 1970s and early-80s New York.
James Nares, a member of the Contortions and a filmmaker, discussed the genre and said: “Different disciplines came together. There were filmmakers, artists, musicians, poets. We would be making a racket in a studio one day, and shooting a movie the next day.”
The no wave movement was also very inclusive of women, with almost all of the major bands featuring female guitarists or vocalists, such as Lydia Lunch and Pat Place, who were pioneers of creating unique sounds which were hugely inspirational to experimental and noise rock musicians in future years.
One of the most memorable bands to emerge from the no wave scene, however, is undoubtedly the great Sonic Youth. When Thurston Moore relocated to Manhattan in 1977, it was inevitable that he would discover the movement and involve himself in it. Although Sonic Youth began in 1981, a few years after the golden age of no-wave, they were still an important part of the scene. Their earlier music carries the sound of a lot of no wave bands, and in 1984 they even collaborated with no wave queen Lydia Lunch.
A defining compilation album entitled No New York is a great place to start when exploring the world of no wave music. It was supervised by Brian Eno, who had attended a ‘no wave music festival’ that took place over five days in New York and became enthralled by the bands on display.
In an attempt to collect the most important creations of the movement, below you will find a playlist that includes 40 definitive no wave songs, as well as a few tracks that were vital predecessors to the sound, such as ‘Sister Ray’ by The Velvet Underground:
40 essential no wave songs:
- ‘Contort Yourself’ – James Chance and the Contortions
- ‘The Closet’ – Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
- ‘Dance’ – ESG
- ‘Death Valley ’69’ – Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch
- ‘Cavern’ – Liquid Liquid
- ‘Ghost Rider’ – Suicide
- ‘Stay Here’ – Swans
- ‘Blonde Redhead’ – DNA
- ‘Kill Yr. Idols’ – Sonic Youth
- ‘11,000 Volts’ – Mars
- ‘Some Velvet Morning’ – Rowland S. Howard and Lydia Lunch
- ‘Can’t Be Funky’ – Bush Tetras
- ‘3E’ – Mars
- ‘Sister Ray’ – The Velvet Underground
- ‘Harlem Nocturne’ – The Lounge Lizards
- ‘Jukebox Baby’ – Alan Vega
- ‘You Got Me’ – Glenn Branca
- ‘Big Strong Boss’ – Swans
- ‘Elephant’ – Konk
- ‘Frankie Teardrop’ – Suicide
- ‘Evangelist’ – Ut
- ‘You Got Me’ – Theoretical Girls
- ‘Optimo’ – Liquid Liquid
- ‘Design to Kill’ – James Chance and the Contortions
- ‘The Zipper’ – Notekillers
- ‘The Orphan (Live at Max’s Kansas City)’ – Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
- ‘Fire’ – Lizzy Mercier Descloux
- ‘Son of Sam’ – Chain Gang
- ‘My Love for You’ – ESG
- ‘Do Dada’ – The Dance
- ‘Pini, Pini’ – Arto/Neto
- ‘Lesson No.2’ – Glenn Branca
- ‘White Light/White Heat’ – The Velvet Underground
- ‘Soka Loka Moki’ – Konk
- ‘Too Many Creeps’ – Bush Tetras
- ‘The Tone Row That Ruled the World’ – Glenn Branca
- ‘Helen Forsdale’ – Mars
- ‘Don’t Want to Be Happy’ – James Chance and the Contortions
- ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ – Sonic Youth
- ‘Breakfast’ – ImpLOG
