Math rock

Last updated

Steve Albini was an influence in the math rock genre. Albini atp.jpg
Steve Albini was an influence in the math rock genre.

Math rock is a style of alternative and indie rock [2] with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush. [3] [4] It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), counterpoint, odd time signatures, and extended chords. It bears similarities to post-rock. [2]

Contents

History and precursors

The albums Red and Discipline by King Crimson, [5] [6] Spiderland by Slint [7] are generally considered seminal influences on the development of math rock. The Canadian punk rock group Nomeansno (founded in 1979 and inactive as of 2016) have been cited by music critics as a "secret influence" on math rock, [8] predating much of the genre's development by more than a decade. An even more avant-garde group of the same era, Massacre, featured the guitarist Fred Frith and the bassist Bill Laswell. With some influence from the rapid-fire energy of punk, Massacre's influential music used complex rhythmic characteristics. Black Flag's 1984 album, My War , also included unusual polyrhythms. [9]

Characteristics

Math rock is typified by its rhythmic complexity, seen as mathematical in character by listeners and critics. While most rock music uses a 4
4
meter (however accented or syncopated), math rock makes use of more non-standard, frequently changing time signatures such as 5
4
, 7
8
, 11
8
, or 13
8
. [10]

As in traditional rock, the sound is most often dominated by guitars and drums. However, drums play a greater role in math rock in providing driving, complex rhythms. Math rock guitarists make use of tapping techniques and loop pedals to build on these rhythms, as illustrated by songs like those of "math rock supergroup" Battles.

Lyrics are generally not the focus of math rock; the voice is treated as just another instrument in the mix. Often, vocals are not overdubbed, and are positioned less prominently, as in the recording style of Steve Albini. Many of math rock's best-known groups are entirely instrumental such as Don Caballero or Hella.

The term began as a joke but has developed into the accepted name for the musical style. One advocate of this is Matt Sweeney, singer with Chavez, a group often linked to the math rock scene. [11] Despite this, not all critics see math rock as a serious sub-genre of rock. [12]

A significant intersection exists between math rock and emo, exemplified by bands such as Tiny Moving Parts [13] or American Football, whose sound has been described as "twinkly, mathy rock, a sound that became one of the defining traits of the emo scene throughout the 2000s". [14]

Bands

Asian

Math rock has a significant presence in Japan; the most prominent Japanese groups include Toe, Tricot, The Cabs, and Lite. [15] Other Japanese groups which incorporate math rock in their music include Ling Tosite Sigure, [16] Zazen Boys [15] and Mouse on the Keys [17] while the Japanoise scene features bands such as Ruins, Zeni Geva, and Boredoms. [15]

Taiwan has a very small indie music scene, of which Math rock is an emergent genre that is quickly gaining in popularity, with well-known math rock bands including Elephant Gym. [18]

North American

Polvo of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is often considered one of the cornerstones of math rock, although the band has disavowed that categorization. [19]

In California, power pop groups Game Theory and the Loud Family were both led by Scott Miller, who was said to "tinker with pop the way a born mathematician tinkers with numbers". [20] The origin of Game Theory's name is mathematical, suggesting a "nearly mathy" sound cited as "IQ rock." [21]

Although the grunge bands from Seattle were not widely associated with math rock, some have speculated that Soundgarden was one of the few exceptions, due to many of their songs utilizing odd time signatures. [22]

See also

Notes and references

  1. "Post-Rock Music Genre Overview". AllMusic . Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Math Rock Music Genre Overview". AllMusic . Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  3. Body, Alex E. (June 20, 2019). Rush : song by song. [Stroud, Gloucestershire, England]. ISBN   978-1-78155-729-7. OCLC   1088907970.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Progressive rock reconsidered. Holm-Hudson, Kevin. New York: Routledge. 2002. ISBN   0-8153-3714-0. OCLC   45890399.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. Sodomsky, Sam. "King Crimson Red". Condé Nast. Pitchfork. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  6. Leone, Dominique (November 21, 2002). "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  7. Stablein, Lee. "Under The Influence #24: Lapsarian on "Spiderland" by Slint!". Metal Noise. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  8. "Live and Cuddly". Allmusic. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  9. Blush, Steven (2010). "Black Flag & SST: Thirsty and miserable". American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Los Angeles: Feral House. p. 72. ISBN   978-1-932595-98-7. ... its seven-minute Metal dirges and Fusion-style time signatures confused many fans.
  10. Progressive rock reconsidered. Holm-Hudson, Kevin. New York: Routledge. 2002. ISBN   0-8153-3714-0. OCLC   45890399.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. "Interview: Chavez". Pitchfork Media. August 12, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  12. Kamp, David. (2005). The rock snob*s dictionary : an essential lexicon of rockological knowledge. Daly, Steven, 1960- (1st ed.). New York: Broadway Books. pp.  69. ISBN   0-7679-1873-8. OCLC   55990376.
  13. "A Tiny Interview with Tiny Moving Parts". September 9, 2014.
  14. "Never Meant: The Complete Oral History of American Football". NOISEY. February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 "A Complete Guide to Japanese Math Rock". Tokyo Weekender. February 19, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  16. "10 indie bands from Asia you need to know". Time Out Hong Kong. November 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  17. "Mouse On The Keys live in KL | Music in Kuala Lumpur". Time Out Kuala Lumpur. August 3, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  18. Robson, Daniel (August 6, 2022). "INTERVIEW | Taiwan's Math Rock Heroes Elephant Gym: 'We Can All Resonate Together in Music' | JAPAN Forward". japan-forward.com. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  19. Redford, Chad. "You can call Polvo math rock, but the numbers just don't add up". creativeloafing.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. Schoemer, Karen (April 2, 1993). "Sounds Around Town: Miller Writ Loud". New York Times . Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
  21. Amar, Erin (July 2011). "Music: What Happened? Scott Miller on 50 Years of Singles in 258 Pages". Rocker Magazine. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013.
  22. "WAS SOUNDGARDEN A MATH ROCK BAND?". feckingbahamas. July 9, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2023.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grunge</span> Genre of rock music

Grunge is an alternative rock genre and subculture which emerged during the mid-1980s in the U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal. The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, betrayal, social and emotional isolation, addiction, psychological trauma and a desire for freedom.

Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbres, as well as non-rock styles, with less emphasis on conventional song structures or riffs. Post-rock artists typically combine rock instrumentation with electronics. The genre emerged within the indie and underground music scene of the 1980s and early 1990s. However, due to its abandonment of rock conventions, it began to increasingly show little resemblance musically to conventional indie rock at the time, borrowing instead from diverse sources including ambient, electronica, jazz, krautrock, dub, and minimalist classical, with these influences also being pivotal for the style of ambient pop.

Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced.

Alternative rock is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s with the likes of the grunge, shoegaze, and Britpop subgenres in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively. During this period, many record labels were looking for "alternatives", as many corporate rock, hard rock, and glam metal acts from the 1980s were beginning to grow stale throughout the music industry. The emergence of Generation X as a cultural force in the 1990s also contributed greatly to the rise of alternative rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tortoise (band)</span> American post-rock band

Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1990. The band incorporates krautrock, dub, minimal music, electronica and jazz into their music, a combination sometimes termed "post-rock". Tortoise have been consistently credited for the rise of the post-rock movement in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slint</span> American rock band

Slint was an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986. The band consisted of Brian McMahan, David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford, Todd Brashear, and Ethan Buckler. Slint's first album, Tweez, was recorded by engineer Steve Albini in 1987 and released in obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989. It was followed two years later by the critically acclaimed Spiderland, released on the independent label Touch and Go Records.

Alternative metal is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by heavily downtuned, mid-paced guitar riffs, a mixture of accessible melodic vocals and harsh vocals and sometimes unconventional sounds within other heavy metal styles. The term has been in use since the 1980s, although it came into prominence in the 1990s.

A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are difficult to distinguish, but they can be identified by a number of traits. They may differ in terms of instrumentation, tempo, song structure, vocal style, lyrics, guitar playing style, drumming style, and so on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polvo</span> American indie rock band

Polvo is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band formed in 1990 and is fronted by guitarists/vocalists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski, with Steve Popson playing bass guitar and Brian Quast playing drums. Eddie Watkins was the band's original drummer, but did not rejoin the band upon its reunion in 2008, after breaking up in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noise rock</span> Experimental rock music mixed with noise

Noise rock is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as 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.

<i>Spiderland</i> 1991 studio album by Slint

Spiderland is the second and final studio album by the American rock band Slint. It was released by Touch and Go Records on March 27, 1991. Slint's lineup at the time of recording comprised Brian McMahan on vocals and guitar, David Pajo on guitar, Todd Brashear on bass guitar and Britt Walford on drums. Spiderland was engineered by Brian Paulson and recorded over four days in August 1990. The music and vocal melodies were composed throughout the summer of 1990, while lyrics were written in-studio.

Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term "post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad constellation of groups. Initially taking inspiration from post-punk and noise rock, post-hardcore began in the 1980s with bands like Hüsker Dü and Minutemen. The genre expanded in the 1980s and 1990s with releases by bands from cities that had established hardcore scenes, such as Fugazi from Washington, D.C. as well as groups such as Big Black, Jawbox, Quicksand, and Shellac that stuck closer to post-hardcore's noise rock roots. Dischord Records became a major nexus of post-hardcore during this period. The genre also began to incorporate more dense, complex, and atmospheric instrumentals with bands like Slint and Unwound, and also experienced some crossover from indie rock with bands like The Dismemberment Plan. In the early- and mid-2000s, post-hardcore achieved mainstream success with the popularity of bands like At the Drive-In, My Chemical Romance, Dance Gavin Dance, AFI, Underoath, Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, the Used, Saosin, Alexisonfire, and Senses Fail. In the 2010s, bands like Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce the Veil achieved mainstream success under the post-hardcore label. Meanwhile, bands like Title Fight and La Dispute experienced underground popularity playing music that bore a closer resemblance to the post-hardcore bands of the 1980s and 1990s.

Mathcore is a genre of music influenced by post-hardcore and extreme metal, as well as jazz fusion, industrial metal, progressive metal, metalcore, and death metal. It developed during the 1990s mainly in the United States. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatures, polymeters, syncopations and tempo changes. Early mathcore lyrics were addressed from a realistic worldview and with a pessimistic, defiant, resentful or sarcastic point of view.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Pajo</span> American musician (born 1968)

David Pajo is an American alternative rock musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though a multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his guitar work, most notably with Slint. He is currently a member of Gang of Four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Football (band)</span> American indie rock band

American Football is an American indie band from Urbana, Illinois, originally active from 1997 until 2000. They reformed in 2014.

<i>The White Birch</i> (album) 1994 studio album by Codeine

The White Birch is the second and final album by the New York City band Codeine. Released in April 1994, the album is considered by many to be the band's best album and a clear influence on Low, among other bands.

Punk jazz is a genre of music that combines elements of jazz, especially improvisation, with the instrumentation and performance style of punk rock. The term was first used to describe James Chance and the Contortions' 1979 album Buy. Punk jazz is closely related to free jazz, no wave, and loft jazz, and has since significantly inspired post-hardcore and alternative hip hop.

<i>In Prism</i> 2009 studio album by Polvo

In Prism is Polvo's fifth studio album, and their first since 1997's Shapes. It was recorded by Brian Paulson and was released on Merge Records on September 8, 2009. The track "Beggar's Bowl" was streamed online.

Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep.

Nintendocore is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune and video game music with hardcore punk and/or heavy metal. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore and a fusion genre between metalcore and chiptune. The genre originated in the early 2000s and peaked around the late 2000s with bands like Horse the Band, I Fight Dragons, Math the Band, An Albatross, The NESkimos and Minibosses pioneering the genre.