girls in synthesis

15 bands who are crucial to the history of noise music

When it initially blasted into the world from New York’s Lower East Side almost concurrently with punk in 1977, it was dubbed no wave. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau referred to it as “skronk,” an onomatopoeia based around the general guitar sound. He uncharitably dubbed its ’80s practitioners “pigfucker” bands. This writer’s personal name for […]

Here are the 20 bands keeping punk alive in 2020 and beyond

In 1981, British punk commandos the Exploited famously wrote  “Punk’s Not Dead.” It was a response to people persisting that the genre was bundled up tightly in Sid Vicious‘ coffin and buried. That was almost four decades ago. And every year, we’re still waiting for naysayers to drink their last pints of icy cold STFU […]

These 10 British guitar-rock bands will make your playlists louder

In these troubled times, America is embracing a wide swath of laptop and synth-driven pop stars. Meanwhile in the United Kingdom (the country that practically invented electro-pop), there’s a new consciousness of British guitar-rock bands plugging into guitars and turning up amps. And they’ve brought hooks and riffs to spare. Here are some of the […]