Your way in
Noise rock 1983
Alternate tunings, feedback as an instrument and rhythm sections that hit like machinery. The grandfather of sludge.
- Heaviness
- 7
- Speed
- 6
- Melody
- 3
- Where from
- USA
- Tempo
- 90-150 bpm
- Song length
- 3-7 min
- Written about
- Violence, American ugliness, Sex without romance, Deliberate discomfort
- Vocals
- Shouted
Why this one
| You said | Noise rock | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shouting, but I can still hear the words When someone is singing, what should come out? | shouted | 100% | ×3 |
| As heavy as it gets How much weight do you want behind it? | 7 out of 10 | 70% | ×2 |
| A steady walk What pace? | 6 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| Being young and out late What should the words be about? | Violence, American ugliness, Sex without romance, Deliberate discomfort | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 90% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 4 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, about 1 out of 8. Noise rock leads the next by 8 points. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Pixies, Doolittle 1989
Pixies - Doolittle. Cobain admitted he was simply trying to write a Pixies song.
- 2The one to put on first
The Jesus Lizard, Goat 1991
The Jesus Lizard - Goat. The rhythm section sounds like heavy plant in operation.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Alternative rock, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Noise rock's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Groove metal 83%
Thrash slowed to a groove that hits you in the chest: syncopated riffs, mid-tempo drums, barked vocals.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 6 steps from Noise rock.
The way into Groove metal -
No wave 78%
A total refusal of melody and standard tuning. Short-lived, extreme and hugely influential on noise rock.
5 steps from Noise rock, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into No wave
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- As heavy as it gets put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Rock and roll, Folk rock, Country rock. Worth 2 of 8.
- Being young and out late put 115 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Alternative rock. Worth 1 of 8.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.