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Math rock

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This article is about the style of music. For the educational short films including Multiplication Rock, see Schoolhouse Rock!

Template:Mathrock Math rock is a rhythmically complex, guitar-based style of experimental rock music[1] that emerged in the late 1980s. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), angular melodies, and dissonant chords.[2]

A closely-related genre is post-rock, into which some of the same bands are classified; post-rock, though, tends to be characterized by a "jazzier" drumming style.[1]

Characteristics

Whereas most rock music uses a basic 4/4 beat (however accented or syncopated), math rock frequently uses asymmetrical time signatures such as 7/8, 11/8, or 13/8, or features constantly changing meters based on various groupings of 2 and 3. This rhythmic complexity, seen as "mathematical" in character by many listeners and critics, is what gives the genre its name. Musically, math rock derives from other rock genres, including rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, and punk rock.

Musicians who purposely turn to mathematics to find new creativity in their music are also classified math rockers. They manipulate, twist and syncopate to confuse, to delay, to create something that is a twist on rock, punk, or pop.

Lyrics are generally not the focus of math rock; the voice is treated as just another sound in the mix. Often, lyrics are not overdubbed, and are positioned low in the mix, as in the recording style of Steve Albini. Many math rock groups are entirely instrumental such as Don Caballero or 65daysofstatic.

The term math rock has often been passed off as a joke that has developed into what some believe is a musical style. An advocate of this is Matt Sweeney, singer with Chavez, who themselves were often linked to the math rock scene:[3]

It was invented by a friend of ours as a derogatory term for a band me and James (Lo) played in called Wider. But his whole joke is that he'd watch the song and not react at all, and then take out his calculator to figure out how good the song was. So he'd call it math rock, and it was a total diss, as it should be.

Development

Early influences

Some rock musicians who emerged in the 1960s and '70s experimented with unusual meters and structures. Notable examples include The Beatles, Henry Cow, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Yes, Rush, King Crimson, The Police, Gong, early DEVO and Pink Floyd. The music of these and others from this era sometimes had hard rock or metal leanings, but such groups were generally classified as "progressive rock".

Canadian punk rock group Nomeansno (founded in 1979 and active as of 2007) have been cited by critics[4] as a "secret influence" on math rock, predating much of the genre's development by more than a decade. Though never finding or even seeking mainstream attention, Nomeansno's music typically blend dark humor, punk energy and aggression, drastic shifts in tempo and structure and acclaimed instrumental prowess. An even more avant-garde group of the same era, Massacre featured guitarist Fred Frith and bassist Bill Laswell. With some influence from the rapid-fire energy of punk, Massacre's influential music used complex rhythmic characteristics.

In the 1990s a heavier, rhythmically complex style grew out of the broader noise rock scenes active in Chicago and other Midwestern cities, with influential groups also coming from Japan and Southern California. These groups shared influences ranging from the music of 20th century composers such as Igor Stravinsky, John Cage, and Steve Reich, as well as the chaotic free-jazz approach of John Zorn's Naked City, and critics soon dubbed the style "math rock."

Midwestern groups

During the 1990s, the greatest concentration of math rock bands was in the urban centers of the U.S.'s Midwestern "Rust Belt," ranging from Minneapolis to Buffalo, with Chicago being a central hub. The Chicago-based engineer Steve Albini is a key figure in the scene, and many math rock bands from around the country have enlisted him to record their albums, giving the genre's recorded catalog a certain uniformity of sound, and lumping his bands past and present — Shellac, Rapeman, and Big Black — into the pigeonhole as well. Also, many math rock records were released by Chicago-based Touch and Go Records, as well as its sister labels, Quarterstick Records and Skin Graft Records.

Some key bands of this period include Bastro, Table, Cheer-Accident, Shellac, and Breadwinner. Also from the Chicago area, from nearby DeKalb, Illinois, is U.S. Maple, which formed out of the ashes of the Jesus Lizard-esque Shorty. U.S. Maple took a more deconstructive approach to their brand of rock music, similar to that of Captain Beefheart. Their music has a free-form approach to rhythm, with songs only occasionally coalescing into conventional rock beats. Thus, aesthetically, the group is not as "mathy" as other bands in the genre, but the same thought process of dismantling rock music still applies.

Several other math rock groups of the 1990s, all characterized by extreme rhythmic complexity and sonic brutality, were based in Midwestern cities: Cleveland's Craw and Keelhaul, St. Louis's Dazzling Killmen, and Minneapolis' Colossamite.

Pittsburgh groups

The city of Pittsburgh is home to one of the most defining examples of the math rock genre: the four-piece instrumental band Don Caballero. Formed in 1991, "Don Cab," as the group is affectionately known, successfully blends heavy noise rock sounds with avant-garde jazz influences. Like many other bands in the style, Don Caballero's members despise the "math rock" label applied to them by critics. Even so, it should come as no surprise that a temporary bass player Matt Jencik, a member of another former Pittsburgh math rock band, Hurl, also spent time in Don Caballero. The group's former guitarist Mike Banfield has noted Breadwinner to be an important early influence on the band's sound. Their other former guitarist, Ian Williams, drew quite heavily from the minimalist works of Steve Reich, shown especially in the group's final release with him as guitarist, American Don. Don Caballero disbanded in 2000 after a van accident that abruptly ended their support tour of American Don. However, Che reformed the band in 2003 with an entirely different lineup consisting of members of the Pittsburgh-based math rock band Creta Bourzia.

Aside from Don Caballero, other groups that were active during the mid-1990s heyday of math rock included Shale, Jumbo, Blunderbuss, and Six Horse (featuring original Don Caballero bassist Pat Morris), all of whom shared similarities with their local contemporaries in the sound of "mathy," precise, metallic rock.

San Diego groups

Formed in 1990, San Diego's Drive Like Jehu, which featured the off-kilter guitar of John Reis from Rocket from the Crypt was an example of technical rock music, demonstrated on the band's swan song, Yank Crime. The group disbanded in 1994. Other San Diego bands of the time that have been likened to Jehu include Antioch Arrow, Clikitat Ikatowi, Tristeza, and Heavy Vegetable, who took a more melodic approach than the first three. Heavy Vegetable also featured the songwriting of Rob Crow.

Japanese groups

Several math rock groups from Japan developed close relationships with Chicago's Skin Graft label, leading to a cross-fertilization between the math rock scenes in the two nations. The most important Japanese groups include Zeni Geva and Ruins, with Yona-Kit being a collaboration between Japanese and U.S. musicians. It is very likely that Japanese math rock exerted an early influence on some (if not many) of the earliest U.S. math rock groups, as both Zeni Geva and Ruins were formed several years before their North American counterparts became active in the genre. Other Japanese groups which incorporate math rock in their music include Té, Toe, Zazen Boys, and Lite.

D.C. groups

Washington, D.C. also contributed to the sound of math rock with the bands Shudder to Think, Faraquet, 1.6 Band, Autoclave, later Jawbox, and Circus Lupus among some others. The latter is said to have influenced the sound of early Q and Not U. However, since D.C.-oriented bands tended to throw in odd-meters into their already eclectic mix of influences, some were branded with the genre name.

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond-based Breadwinner, (Starting in the mid to late 1980s) who incidentally are to be credited for creating the niche genre from an early review of their music, spawned a number of later rock bands in the town. While direct descendants of Breadwinner include Sliang Laos and Ladyfinger, and precedents include Honor Role and Butterglove, there were many other notable Richmond area bands tied in with the genre: Kenmores, Sordid Doctrine, MEN, Alter Natives, Mao Tse Helen, Hell Mach 4, Hose.got.cable, Mulch, Hegoat, King Sour, chutney, HRM, Nudibranch, Ebonite, Gore de Vol and Human Thurma. Most recently the band Hex Machine carries on a connection to the well of influence among others and comprises members of human thurma, discordance axis (ny/nj) and Sliang Laos. Richmond's Lamb of God cite Breadwinner and Sliang Laos as major early influences. Some consider Richmond, Virginia to be the birthplace and incubator for the genre.

The Louisville sound

In 1991, a young band from Louisville called Slint released its second album Spiderland. It is considered an extremely influential landmark album to not only math rock but across the underground music network and beyond. The short-lived group's sound, based on the interlocking of multiple "clean" (non-distorted) guitars playing in generally compound meters, was more sedate and less metal-influenced as most other math rock groups, and thus its style (and those of its imitators) represents a separate branch of the category. Several groups which followed Slint's lead (including a few that featured ex-members) also used unusual meters; such bands include Bitch Magnet, Rodan, Crain, The For Carnation, June of 44, Sonora Pine, Roadside Monument, and Shipping News.

Vanguarda Paulista

In the early 1980s São Paulo gave rise to a movement called Vanguarda Paulista ("São Paulo Vanguard" in English) that flourished in South America's largest city as the Brazilian military dictatorship began to crumble. The original Vaguarda Paulista was an avant-garde wing of Popular Brazilian Music (MPB) championed by artists like Arrigo Barnabé, Alice Ruiz, Hélio Ziskind, Patife Band and many others who played an angular jazz-rock with constantly shifting time signatures reminiscent of Frank Zappa or Henry Cow. In the early 21st Century, there is a New Wave of art-rock bands emerging, such as Hurtmold, Objeto Amarelo, Retórica and Matema that have been heavily influenced by sounds from the Northern Hemisphere made by all of the bands mentioned elsewhere in this article. These newer Brazilian groups are sometimes referred to as the Vanguarda Nova or New Vanguard.

Contemporary math rock

See also: List of math rock groups

By the turn of the 21st century, most of the later generation bands such as Thumbnail and Sweep the Leg Johnny had disbanded and the genre had, like most musical movements identified in the ever-shifting and elusive underground rock scene, been roundly disavowed by most bands labeled with the "math rock" moniker. However, the influences of the movement can clearly be heard in the abiding avant-garde and indie rock scenes. Many more bands, comprised of both those from the original wave of the genre and those of the new generation, have managed to be tagged with the moniker of "math-rock". The British band Foals exemplify the angular guitar sections and start/stop dynamics of the math rock sound particularly in their earlier demos and have risen to some prominence in the UK and USA. Other British math rock acts of the 21st century such as The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg who toured with mathcore band Circle Takes the Square before breaking up in 2004 have stood out in the UK scene but have been less successful. Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies are another British band who use angular guitar sections, as well as some post-rock techniques. Their sound is very similar to that of Foals except that they use time signatures other than 4/4.

In the mid-2000s, many math rock bands have enjoyed renewed popularity. Slint and Chavez embarked on reunion tours, while Shellac toured and relased their first album in seven years. Don Caballero reunited with a new lineup and released an album in 2006, while several of its original members joined new projects; Mike Banfield has formed the band Knot Feeder in 2006, while bassist Pat Morris joined The Poison Arrows in 2005.

As the genre continues to evolve, some see a departure from math rock's "stern" or "workmanlike"[5] emphasis on difficulty and complexity. According to an LA Weekly music column, groups such as the New York-based Battles, (featuring Ian Williams, another Don Caballero alum), are helping to "make math rock fun and approachable."[5]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b "Math Rock". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-08-01. Cite error: The named reference "AMG" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ http://www.opentomusic.co.uk/2007/07/10/rock-music-with-magic-numbers/
  3. ^ "Interview: Chavez". Pitchfork Media. 2006-08-12. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  4. ^ "Live and Cuddly". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  5. ^ a b "Math Rock, M.I.A., and the Secret of iTunes Plus", LA Weekly, June 13, 2007 Cite error: The named reference "LA" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).


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