Heavier noise rock is the ugly cousin of hard rock, a more brutish and even more anti-social avenue tread by those who can’t settle for just Punk, Metal, or even often between snark and serious angst. It has produced some of the most forward-thinking and genuinely outsider music in history and certainly many of the most unique guitar tones ever. 

 

It used to be that it was for those in the know and sort of a snobby insider’s game, a sub-genre built off of Am Rep cool and sort of built around keeping folks at arm’s length unless they really cared. There were certain bands who got off on alienating people as an aesthetic, and it was glorious. Nowadays there is less gatekeeping and most artists in the 21st century are happy to keep any awareness of less corporate strains of rock in the general mix, if even possible. We also have a fairly new band such as Chat Pile making waves.

 

Early White Zombie (‘Soulcrusher’, anyone?), Unsane, Big Black, Jesus Lizard, and of course mighty Helmet are some of the most well-known flagship legacy acts of the genre, but here is a primer on a few other records both older and newer you might want to check out if you are trying to get your feet wet as a fan of this gnarly strain of underground expression.

 

I think the genre really opened itself up to me more beyond Unsane’s classic “Scrape” wipeout video and Helmet’s even more widely regarded borderline working man’s groove metal LP Meantime when some friends of mine and I many years ago went to see Sebadoh on their Bakesale tour. We somehow stayed at Lou Barlow’s parents house after the epic set and he was very kind and entertained us. At some point he gave me a copy of the Elephantitus of the Night compilation by Olympia’s insanely bad ass and raucous noise duo Godheadsilo. To say it changed my life is an understatement. 

 

A year or two later I started a side project in Woodstock, NY in late 1996 called The Electric Ten Inch with ex-Shabutie/Coheed members Mic Todd and Nate Kelley, current Dead Unicorn drummer Zac Shaw and my pal Damien Shannon (an awesome guitarist and engineer who has since worked on records ranging from commercial rock like Saliva to Ween’s White Pepper). Anyway, one of my favorite memories, long before some of us argued for years and fractured friendships, is of this golden time when we all did a blistering cover of “Nutritious Treat” in Nate’s family’s old house in Bearsville. Claudio Sanchez was there too and chilling on the floor rocking back and forth vibing with us. Those were great times.

 

 

Over time I was more and more excited about the genre and it consumed my virgin soul forever. Hopefully you’ll enjoy a few records I think are perfect somewhat lesser known gems that might help you get into, imo , the coolest sub-genre of loud music ever. Maybe you will form some chaotic rock memories of your own!

 

1. Steel Pole Bathtub – Scars From Falling Down

All the cooler older stoner and skater kids I knew growing up in the 90s were fanatic when it came to blasting Primus, Firehose and especially Steel Pole Bathtub. The dudes in this amazing band Blissfully Ignorant (RIP Matt) got me into Montana’s Steel Pole Bathtub, the most calamitous, cacophonous, fun, sample heavy and somehow now semi-slept on band on this list. While most people I knew loved the Some Cocktail Suggestions EP the best, my favorite will always be the ill-fated Slash Records failed attempt at breaking into the mainstream entitled ‘Scars From Falling Down’. This album straddles hooks, coherent songwriting and also underground noiserock approaches while remaining a lot more anarchic than ‘Nevermind’. Every song is a banger and it ought to be mentioned so much more often as a cult classic. “The Conversation” will stick with you after a single listen. The careening “Twist” got a video, forever to be overshadowed a year or so later by the “ruahahahneaghuahhaha” Korn classic. They should have gone with “The 500 Club” as a single, pretty much the most anthemic, slogging tune they ever spit out with riffs to fucking die for. 

 

 

2. KENmode- Success

 

Unfairly maligned by some hipster outlets at the time of release as an inauthentic carbon copy of flagship genre releases by Shellac, KENmode’s Success is actually a pitch perfect homage to the general style while being very much a KENmode release. How many people complain about 8,700 melodic punk releases sharing some similarity in delivery with way less individuality intact? Featuring extra vocal contributions from Eugene Robinson (Oxbow, White Flag) and Jill Clapham, extra noise from Dylan Walker and cello from Natanielle Felicitas, the record even had the blessing and involvement of Steve Albini. The malaise inducing everyday banality of the brilliant Randy Ortiz artwork compliments these churlish anthems quite well. “A Catalog of Small Disappointments” is the stunning standout, a song seething with discontent and inevitable regret on a record that nails the alienation of the rat race. 

 

3. Today Is The Day- Willpower

Nowadays most extreme bands dick ride black metal to death or think that overproduced try hard deathcore is “sooo harrrd, bro”. Today Is The Day were more intense, eerie and edgy than most bands ever get well before they ever really delved into grindcore and etreme metal influences. While albums like Temple of the Morning Star, In The Eyes of God and especially the milestone Sadness Will Prevail are life changing extreme metal favorites, the classic (and newly re-issued on remastered vinyl with two bonus tracks) ‘Willpower’ is as close to a perfect weirdo noise rock record as you will ever hear. It is probably mainman Steve Austin’s most essential creation at the end of the day. From the title track’s explosive entrance onward it is downright uncomfortable. Unlike many other records in the genre it is light on snark, but heavy on white knuckled alienation.”My First Knife” sounds completely unhinged and like no one else, still. “Simple Touch” is a darkside of the psyche lullaby hallucination masked as a love song. “Golden Calf” in particular is way ahead of the game with self loathing and pummeling dissonance that prefaced excellent negativity prone bands like Portrayal of Guilt and Whores by decades. 

 

 

4. Zeni Geva- Freedom Bondage

Japan’s Zeni Geva are a highly respected Japanese trio who have perhaps pushed the noise rock genre further than almost any other band, straddling progressive and mathy territories while even having some vocals veer into death metal-like textures. KK Null has influenced countless disciples of chaos and while ‘Desire For Agony’ is more popular, the even more wide ranging ‘Freedom Bondage’ is my personal favorite release. A synthesis of insightful social critique, mind-blowing arrangements and you never know what is coming next moments, it should get checked out by anyone seriously into noise. If you have never heard “Burn Your Flesh Out” but think your current extreme metal faves are “cutting edge” I suggest not talking to me. 

 

 

5. Made Out Of Babies – Trophy 

While French band Sofy Major’s Waste or Hammerhead’s classic Into The Vortex are in the running for the most intense barrages in heavy noise rock, it is hard to fuck with the debut from the much missed Brooklyn act Made Out Of Babies. Julie Christmas and friends absolutely ate you alive in stomping songs like “Wounded Rhino”, “Loosey Goosey” and the sky is falling frenzy of “Ire Fire”. Julie’s nursery rhyme meets snarling wildcat energy sprung fully formed from the head of Zeus and helped make these sea sick inducing songs chomp at the bit and stand out in a city known for tunes louder than screeching subway cars. 

 

6. Killdozer – Uncompromising War on Art Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat 

Wisconsin’s Killdozer were not only beloved by Kurt Cobain, they also managed to have an album called Uncompromising War on Art Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat – somehow be only their second-most intentionally pretentious album name (after the fairly accurate ‘Intellectuals Are The Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite’). From the angular and disjointed crawl of “Peach Pie” with ridiculous monotone vocals citing someone as the “jelly in my donut” to the almost bluesy skronk of “Enemy Of The People” talking about the death of small towns due to Sam Walton, this Touch and Go touchstone has a lot of mischief to offer. There is even a Black Oak Arkansas cover. Plenty of feedback co-exists with sturdy, leg dragging through the muck riffs. “The Pig Was Cool” sounds like Mule tried to out dirge the Melvins. While pals The Butthole Surfers probably had the most belligerent canine anthem with “Lonesome Bulldog”, the story of “Knuckles The Dog Who Helps People” being saved from the glue factory is pretty classic and will stay in your head in clanging perpetuity.

 

 

7. Dead Unicorn – Overboard

The long running Hudson Valley, New York duo Dead Unicorn combine shifting and impossible rhythmic shifts to fittingly compliment lyrics about tectonic, volcanic and other forms of general mass destruction. Huge and melodic vocals co-exist with sludge noise mayhem. 2021’s ‘Overboard’ is ironically a great place to jump on board and work your way backwards. “Shark Food” and the thunderous “Last Dying Wave of a Drowning Child” are both bleak as fuck and addictive as hell. 

 

 

8. Shoppers – Silver Year

This early Meredith Graves led Syracuse Shoppers act released the frenetic ‘Silver Year’ in 2011, a blast of noise rock and edgy punk influences (especially in the generally fast drums) with numbered, otherwise untitled tracks. The record is a tour de force of electrifying angst, the band somehow tight as hell but also absolutely feral sounding. It more conviction, feedback, heart and sense of purpose than most records in the decade since. 

 

 

BY MORGAN Y. EVANS