Math rock

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Math rock
Stylistic origins Experimental rock, indie rock, post-hardcore, post-punk, noise rock, minimalism, progressive rock, art rock, avant-garde jazz
Cultural origins Late 1980s United States (Chicago, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Los Angeles) and Japan
Typical instruments Vocals, guitar, bass, drums

(complete list)
Fusion genres
Regional scenes
Chicago - San Diego - South Atlantic States - Pittsburgh - Boston - St. Louis - Japan
Other topics
Post-rock - Minimalist music - Instrumental rock
Slint performing Spiderland in its entirety at the Pitchfork Music Festival

Math rock is a rhythmically complex, often guitar-based, style of experimental rock and indie rock[1] music that emerged in the late 1980s, influenced by progressive rock bands like King Crimson and 20th century minimalist composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), counterpoint, odd time signatures, angular melodies, and extended, often dissonant, chords.


Whereas most rock music uses a basic 4/4 meter (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.

The sound is usually dominated by guitars and drums as in traditional rock, and because of the complex rhythms, drummers of math rock groups have a tendency to stick out more often than in other groups. It is commonplace to find guitarists in math rock groups using the "tapping" method of guitar playing, and loop pedals are occasionally incorporated, as by the band Battles. Guitars are also often played in clean tones more than in other upbeat rock songs, but some groups also use distortion.

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 of math rock's most famous groups are entirely instrumental such as Don Caballero or Hella, though both have experimented with singing to varying degrees.

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:[2]


Early influences[edit]

Some rock musicians who emerged in the 1960s and '70s experimented with unusual meters and structures. Notable examples include Frank Zappa, Henry Cow, Cream, Captain Beefheart, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis, Kansas, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Yes, Rush, King Crimson, Gong, The Police, Mahavishnu Orchestra 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".

The Canadian punk rock group Nomeansno (founded in 1979 and active as of 2013) have been cited by music critics[3] 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 blends dark humor, punk energy and aggression, drastic shifts in tempo and structure and acclaimed instrumental prowess in their quest for transcendence. An even more avant-garde group of the same era, Massacre, featured the guitarist Fred Frith and the bassist Bill Laswell. With some influence from the rapid-fire energy of punk, Massacre's influential music used complex rhythmic characteristics. Black Flag's 1984 album My War also included unusual polyrhythms.[4]

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, Béla Bartók, John Cage, and Steve Reich, as well as the chaotic free-jazz approach of John Zorn's Naked City and Miles Davis´s later work, and critics soon dubbed the style "math rock".

Australian groups[edit]

Bands such as Because of Ghosts, The Sinking Citizenship, and My Disco emerged in the early 2000s in Melbourne.

European groups[edit]

The European math rock scene started in the late 90s to early 2000, including bands such as Adebisi Shank (Ireland), Kobong (Poland), The Redneck Manifesto (Ireland), It Was All A Bit Black & White (Ireland), Three Trapped Tigers and This Town Needs Guns (United Kingdom) and Uzeda (Italy).

Japanese groups[edit]

The most important Japanese groups include Ruins, Zeni Geva, Boredoms, Aburadako, and Doom. Yona-Kit is a collaboration between Japanese and U.S. musicians. Other Japanese groups which incorporate math rock in their music include Toe, Zazen Boys, and Lite. Skin Graft Records and Tzadik Records have released Japanese math rock albums in the United States.

United States[edit]

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. Chicago was a central hub. The Chicago-based sound 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. Bands from Chicago include Sweep the Leg Johnny. Several other math rock groups of the 1990s were based in Midwestern cities: Cleveland's Craw and Keelhaul, St. Louis's Dazzling Killmen, and Minneapolis's Colossamite.

Outside the Midwest, the city of Pittsburgh is home to Don Caballero—whose drummer, Damon Che, is also involved with the international math rock band Bellini as well as Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tabula Rasa, and Knot Feeder.[5] Bands from Washington, D.C. include The Dismemberment Plan, Shudder to Think, Hoover, Faraquet, 1.6 Band, Autoclave, later Jawbox, and Circus Lupus. The Richmond, VA-based Breadwinner inspired bands such as Fulflej and Lamb of God. Polvo of Chapel Hill, North Carolina is often considered math rock, although the band has disavowed that categorization.[6] The success of Louisville, Kentucky's Slint inspired bands such as Rodan, Crain, The For Carnation, June of 44, Sonora Pine, Roadside Monument, and Shipping News.

In California, math rock groups from San Diego include Drive Like Jehu, Antioch Arrow, Tristeza, No Knife, Heavy Vegetable and Sleeping People. Northern California was the base of Game Theory and The Loud Family, both led by Scott Miller, who was said to "tinker with pop the way a born mathematician tinkers with numbers."[7] The origin of Game Theory's name is mathematical, suggesting a "nearly mathy" sound cited as "IQ rock."[8]

Contemporary math rock[edit]

By the turn of the 21st century, most of the later generation bands such as Sweep the Leg Johnny had disbanded and the genre had been roundly disavowed by most bands labeled with the "math rock" moniker. Many more bands, consisting 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; however they lack the mixture of time signatures or the odd time signatures needed to be thought of as a proper math rock band. The Edmund Fitzgerald is a band containing members of the band Foals, with the addition of the use of complex time signatures and time changes. Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies are another British band who use angular guitar sections, as well as some post-rock techniques and the use of different time signatures. This Town Needs Guns, an Oxford based band, predominantly use asymmetrical time signatures, typical math rock characteristics, as well as complex finger picking.

In the mid-2000s, many math rock bands enjoyed renewed popularity. Slint and Chavez embarked on reunion tours, while Shellac toured and released 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, such as the band Knot Feeder.

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "Math Rock". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
  2. ^ "Interview: Chavez". Pitchfork Media. 2006-08-12. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
  3. ^ "Live and Cuddly". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
  4. ^ "its seven-minute Metal dirges and Fusion-style time signatures proved too much for many fans" Steven Blush, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, "Thirsty and Miserable", Los Angeles: Feral House, 2001, p. 66
  5. ^ Math & Noise: Knot Feeder
  6. ^ You can call Polvo math rock, but the numbers just don't add up | Atlanta|Music|Feature
  7. ^ Schoemer, Karen (April 2, 1993). "Sounds Around Town: Miller Writ Loud". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. 
  8. ^ Amar, Erin (July 2011). "Music: What Happened? Scott Miller on 50 Years of Singles in 258 Pages". Rocker Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. 

External links[edit]

Math Rock at AllMusic