No Wave

For some musicians, punk was too close to rock and roll for comfort. Seeking to move further away from what they saw as the (punk-rock) mainstream, no-wave explored noise, abrasive sounds, and an approach that favoured texture over tonality.  Emerging primarily in New York in the late 1970s, the sub-genre included artists such as Suicide, Glen Branca, the Lounge Lizards, and Sonic Youth.

One of the interesting characteristics of no-wave was its overlap with other forms of artistic expression. Due to shared iconoclastic values and the cross-pollination encouraged by a shared New York location, musicians, visual artists, film-makers, and performance artists collaborated and co-operated to break down convention and react against the traditions of the various art forms.