Punk jazz
Encyclopedia
Punk jazz describes the amalgamation of elements of the jazz tradition (usually free jazz
and jazz fusion
of the 1960s and 1970s) with the instrumentation or conceptual heritage of punk rock (typically the more experimental and dissonant strains, such as No Wave
and hardcore
). John Zorn
, James Chance and the Contortions
, and Lounge Lizards are notable examples of punk jazz artists.
, who (unsuccessfully) sought out collaboration with Ornette Coleman
, and Television
, also developed a sinuous, improvisatory strain of punk, indebted to jazz. Lol Coxhill
also recorded with the Damned. In Maine
, The Same Band styled itself as a punk-jazz band, and was active from 1977-1980.
The relaxation of orthodoxy concurrent with post-punk
in London and New York City led to a new appreciation for jazz. In London, the Pop Group
began to mix free jazz, along with dub reggae, into their brand of punk rock. In NYC, No Wave
took direct inspiration from both free jazz and punk. Examples of this style include Lydia Lunch
's Queen of Siam, the work of James Chance and the Contortions
, who mixed soul
with free jazz
and punk
, Gray, and the Lounge Lizards, who were the first group to call themselves "punk jazz". Bill Laswell
would become an important figure in punk jazz (in addition to his influence in dance-punk, dub and other genres) with his group Material
, which mixed funk-jazz with punk, while another of his groups, Massacre, added an improvisational quality to aggressive rock music. Laswell would go on to take part in Last Exit
and Pain Killer
. James Blood Ulmer, who applied Coleman's harmolodic style to guitar, also sought out links to No Wave
.
Bad Brains
, widely acknowledged to have established the rudiments of the hardcore style, began by attempting jazz fusion
. Greg Ginn
of Black Flag
also began to incorporate elements of free jazz into his guitar playing. Henry Rollins
has praised free jazz, releasing albums by Matthew Shipp
on his 2.13.61 label and collaborating with Charles Gayle
.
Australian punk has a strong jazz punk tradition. The Laughing Clowns
sought to create a free jazz "sheets of sound
" aesthetic similar to that of Sun Ra
, Pharoah Sanders
, and John Coltrane
. The early punk projects of Ollie Olsen
also drew inspiration from free jazz, including Ornette Coleman
. The Birthday Party
experimented with various jazz elements during the early 80s; their sound on Junkyard
was described by one journalist as a mix of "no-wave guitar, free-jazz craziness, and punk-processed Captain Beefheart
angularity". The efforts of these Australian punk bands has been described as "desert jazz".
Dutch anarcho-punk
group the Ex also incorporated elements of free jazz and particularly European free improvisation
, eventually collaborating with Han Bennink
.
Greek-American singer Diamanda Galás
also approached jazz tradition from a thematically and stylistically transgressive perspective. Her album The Singer is a prototypical example of punk jazz applied to vocals and piano performance. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
bassist Barry Adamson
recorded the album Moss Side Story
, which also applies a punk and noise rock
perspective to the orchestral jazz tradition, with Galás guesting on one track.
Underground psychedelic band Treatment
took an extreme approach, starting with improvising around basic frameworks of chords/chord sequences, and ending with free-form improvisation live on stage. Their eclectic blend of styles covered rock, blues, jazz, classical, avant-garde and experimental sometimes all in one piece. http://nothinghead.com
scene of the early 90's. Drive Like Jehu
took Black Flag
's atonal solos a step further with their dual guitar attack. The Nation of Ulysses had Ian Svenonious alternating between vocals and trumpet, and their complex song structures, odd time signatures, and frenetic live shows were as much hardcore punk as they were free jazz. They even did a brief cover of John Coltrane
's A Love Supreme
on their "PLays Pretty for Baby" album, though they titled it The Shape of Jazz to Come
, after Ornette Coleman
's classic album. Chicago's Cap'n Jazz
also borrowed free jazz's odd time signatures and guitar melodies, marrying them with hardcore screams and amateur tuba playing. The swedish band Refused
was influenced by this scene and recorded an album titled "The Shape of Punk to Come", where they alternate between manic hardcore punk numbers and slower, jazzy songs.
, from Chicago, are comparable to Candiria
, combining contemporary heavy metal genres with free jazz and psychedelia. While Italian band Ephel Duath
were originally credited with the inadvertent recreation of 'jazzcore' on their 2003 full-length The Painter's Palette
and its 2005 follow-up Pain Necessary To Know
, the group later moved away from it to pursue a more esoteric form of progressive rock more akin to Frank Zappa
. Errata from Melbourne, Australia are often cited as the most contemporary exponents of the emergent genre, having outlined its precepts in an interview with Music Vice in October, 2010.
Other examples of punk jazz include Zu
, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
, Hella
, Talibam!, The 5th Plateau, and La Part Maudite.
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
and jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
of the 1960s and 1970s) with the instrumentation or conceptual heritage of punk rock (typically the more experimental and dissonant strains, such as No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
and hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
). John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions, led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, were one of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave music scene. Their first recording, credited solely as Contortions, was on the 1978 compilation, No New York, produced by Brain Eno...
, and Lounge Lizards are notable examples of punk jazz artists.
1970s
Patti SmithPatti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, who (unsuccessfully) sought out collaboration with Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
, and Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
, also developed a sinuous, improvisatory strain of punk, indebted to jazz. Lol Coxhill
Lol Coxhill
Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
also recorded with the Damned. In Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, The Same Band styled itself as a punk-jazz band, and was active from 1977-1980.
1980s
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
in London and New York City led to a new appreciation for jazz. In London, the Pop Group
Pop group
Pop group may refer to:* a band that plays some genre of popular music* a band that plays pop music * The Pop Group, a British post-punk band* Pop! , a 2000s UK pop group...
began to mix free jazz, along with dub reggae, into their brand of punk rock. In NYC, No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
took direct inspiration from both free jazz and punk. Examples of this style include Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
's Queen of Siam, the work of James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions, led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, were one of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave music scene. Their first recording, credited solely as Contortions, was on the 1978 compilation, No New York, produced by Brain Eno...
, who mixed soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
with free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
and punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, Gray, and the Lounge Lizards, who were the first group to call themselves "punk jazz". Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
would become an important figure in punk jazz (in addition to his influence in dance-punk, dub and other genres) with his group Material
Material (band)
For the rock band of the same name, see The MaterialMaterial is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell.-1978-82: The band:...
, which mixed funk-jazz with punk, while another of his groups, Massacre, added an improvisational quality to aggressive rock music. Laswell would go on to take part in Last Exit
Last Exit (Free jazz band)
Last Exit was a free jazz supergroup composed of electric guitarist Sonny Sharrock, drummer/occasional vocalist Ronald Shannon Jackson, saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and bass guitarist Bill Laswell. They were active from 1986 to the early 1990s, releasing primarily live albums recorded in Europe...
and Pain Killer
Painkiller (band)
Painkiller is a band originally formed in 1991. Their style can be described as a mix of avant-garde jazz and grindcore; later albums also incorporated elements of ambient and dub....
. James Blood Ulmer, who applied Coleman's harmolodic style to guitar, also sought out links to No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
.
Bad Brains
Bad Brains
Bad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...
, widely acknowledged to have established the rudiments of the hardcore style, began by attempting jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
. Greg Ginn
Greg Ginn
Gregory Regis Ginn is a guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He is best known for being the leader of and primary songwriter for the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986....
of Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
also began to incorporate elements of free jazz into his guitar playing. Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
has praised free jazz, releasing albums by Matthew Shipp
Matthew Shipp
Matthew Shipp is an American pianist, composer and bandleader.Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford Brown....
on his 2.13.61 label and collaborating with Charles Gayle
Charles Gayle
Charles Gayle is a free jazz saxophonist, pianist, bass clarinetist, and percussionist.-Biography:Charles Gayle was born in Buffalo, New York. Some of Gayle's history is unclear. He was apparently homeless for approximately twenty years, playing saxophone on street corners and subway platforms...
.
Australian punk has a strong jazz punk tradition. The Laughing Clowns
The Laughing Clowns
Laughing Clowns, commonly misspelled as The Laughing Clowns are a jazz-influenced post punk band who formed in Sydney in 1979. In five short years, the band released three LPs; two mini albums; various singles and a batch of odds and sods compilations...
sought to create a free jazz "sheets of sound
Sheets of sound
Sheets of sound was a term coined in 1958 by Down Beat magazine jazz critic Ira Gitler to describe the new, unique improvisational style of John Coltrane...
" aesthetic similar to that of Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, and John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
. The early punk projects of Ollie Olsen
Ollie Olsen
Ollie Olsen 1958, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian composer, synthesist and sound designer who has been producing and performing rock, electronic and experimental music for the past thirty years...
also drew inspiration from free jazz, including Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
. The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
experimented with various jazz elements during the early 80s; their sound on Junkyard
Junkyard (album)
Junkyard is a 1982 album by Australian post-punk group The Birthday Party.The album was recorded with Tony Cohen at Armstrong's Audio Visual Studios in Melbourne in December 1981 and January 1982. Additional tracks were recorded in London's Matrix Studios with punk producer Richard Mazda in May...
was described by one journalist as a mix of "no-wave guitar, free-jazz craziness, and punk-processed Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
angularity". The efforts of these Australian punk bands has been described as "desert jazz".
Dutch anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
group the Ex also incorporated elements of free jazz and particularly European free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
, eventually collaborating with Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
.
Greek-American singer Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls...
also approached jazz tradition from a thematically and stylistically transgressive perspective. Her album The Singer is a prototypical example of punk jazz applied to vocals and piano performance. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
bassist Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997...
recorded the album Moss Side Story
Moss Side Story
Moss Side Story is an album by Barry Adamson released in 1989. The album is a concept album. The music is almost completely instrumental except for occasional screams, samples and a choir. The concept is the score to a fictitious film. To achieve the effect the song titles are descriptive of a film...
, which also applies a punk and noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
perspective to the orchestral jazz tradition, with Galás guesting on one track.
Underground psychedelic band Treatment
Treatment
Treatment may refer to:* Treatment, therapy used to remedy a health problem* Treatment, a process or intervention in the design of experiments* Treatment group, a collection of items or individuals given the same treatment in an experiment* Water treatment...
took an extreme approach, starting with improvising around basic frameworks of chords/chord sequences, and ending with free-form improvisation live on stage. Their eclectic blend of styles covered rock, blues, jazz, classical, avant-garde and experimental sometimes all in one piece. http://nothinghead.com
1990s
Free Jazz was an important influence in the american post-hardcorePost-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
scene of the early 90's. Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore and alternative rock band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. Formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis following the breakup of their band Pitchfork, the band's lineup also included bassist Mike Kennedy and...
took Black Flag
Black Flag
Black Flag may refer to:* A flag that is black: see List of black flags* The black flag, an international symbol in anarchist symbolism* Black Liberation Flag...
's atonal solos a step further with their dual guitar attack. The Nation of Ulysses had Ian Svenonious alternating between vocals and trumpet, and their complex song structures, odd time signatures, and frenetic live shows were as much hardcore punk as they were free jazz. They even did a brief cover of John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
's A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
on their "PLays Pretty for Baby" album, though they titled it The Shape of Jazz to Come
The Shape of Jazz to Come
The Shape of Jazz to Come is an influential album by Ornette Coleman. It was his debut album for Atlantic Records who released it in late 1959....
, after Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
's classic album. Chicago's Cap'n Jazz
Cap'n Jazz
Cap'n Jazz was an emo band formed in Chicago in 1989 by brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella, who were joined by Sam Zurick and Victor Villareal. After a number of name changes and the addition of guitarist Davey von Bohlen the band began to earn a cult following in the Chicago area and the...
also borrowed free jazz's odd time signatures and guitar melodies, marrying them with hardcore screams and amateur tuba playing. The swedish band Refused
Refused
Refused was a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1991. In total the band released five EPs and three albums, before splitting up in 1998...
was influenced by this scene and recorded an album titled "The Shape of Punk to Come", where they alternate between manic hardcore punk numbers and slower, jazzy songs.
2000s
YakuzaYakuza (band)
Yakuza is an avant-garde metal band, formed in Chicago in 1999. They have been acclaimed for their incorporation of jazz and world music elements.-History:...
, from Chicago, are comparable to Candiria
Candiria
Candiria are an American band from Brooklyn, New York. They blend various styles of music, including heavy metal, hardcore, jazz, hip hop and ambient. Candiria have often dubbed their sound "urban fusion".- History :...
, combining contemporary heavy metal genres with free jazz and psychedelia. While Italian band Ephel Duath
Ephel Duath (band)
Ephel Duath is an Italian progressive metal band, formed in 1998 in Padova, Italy. They have had a constantly changing line-up with guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso, being the only original member. To date, they have released one demo, four studio albums, and two remix albums...
were originally credited with the inadvertent recreation of 'jazzcore' on their 2003 full-length The Painter's Palette
The Painter's Palette
The Painter's Palette is the second album by Italian avant-garde metal / Jazz band Ephel Duath.-Track listing:# "The Passage " - 4:11# "The Unpoetic Circle " - 4:54# "Labyrinthine " - 5:21...
and its 2005 follow-up Pain Necessary To Know
Pain Necessary to Know
Pain Necessary to Know is the third studio album by the Italian avant-garde metal band Ephel Duath.-Track listing:# "New Disorder" – 5:01# "Vector " – 4:15# "Pleonasm" – 2:31# "Few Stars, No Refrain And A Cigarette" – 3:43...
, the group later moved away from it to pursue a more esoteric form of progressive rock more akin to Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. Errata from Melbourne, Australia are often cited as the most contemporary exponents of the emergent genre, having outlined its precepts in an interview with Music Vice in October, 2010.
Other examples of punk jazz include Zu
Zu (band)
- Biography :Hailing from Ostia, a town near Rome, Zu are an atypical trio made of drums, electric bass, baritone saxophone and electronics. Formed in Rome in 1997, they began as composers and players for theatre performances. The band is composed of three members: Luca Mai on baritone saxophone,...
, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
, Hella
Hella (band)
Hella is an American band from Sacramento, California. They play a technical blend of math rock, noise rock, and experimental rock. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums...
, Talibam!, The 5th Plateau, and La Part Maudite.
Further reading
- Berendt, Joachim E. (1992). The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond. Revised by Günther Huesmann, translated by H. and B. Bredigkeit with Dan Morgenstern. Brooklyn: Lawrence Hill Books. "The Styles of Jazz: From the Eighties to the Nineties," p. 57-59. ISBN 1-556652-098-0
- Byrne, David, et al. (2008). New York Noise: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1978-88. Soul Jazz Records. ISBN 0955481708.
- Hegarty, Paul (2007). Noise/Music: A History. Continuum International. ISBN 0826417272
- Heylin, Clinton (1993). From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock. ISBN 1556525753
- McNeil, Legs and Gillian McCain (1997). Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Grove Press. ISBN 0802142648
- Masters, Marc (2008). No Wave. Black Dog Publishing. ISBN 190615502X
- Mudrian, Albert (2000). Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore. Feral House. ISBN 193259504X
- Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. Penguin. ISBN 0143036726
- Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books. ISBN 0958268401
- Zorn, John, ed. (2000). Arcana: Musicians on Music. Granary Books. ISBN 188712327X