Thurston Moore documents the ‘no wave’ movement
By now we all know the story of the birth of punk. Famed night spots like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City form part of our collective psychic geography of 1970s New York where the Lower East Side gave birth to mythic bands like the New York Dolls Television Blondie and a couple of subway stops down the line The Ramones. However grand historical narratives are funny things. As one follows the progress of ’70s punk the focus tends to shift across the Atlantic to London and the explosion of the U.K. punk scene. Afterwards when it returns to the United States in 1980 it’s the hardcore scenes of the West Coast that are focused on.
While the story of punk might have left New York behind history did not and No Wave is an attempt by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley to document the emergence of a musical scene that was as important and exciting in its own right. The so-called “no wave” scene that emerged in reaction to both punk and new wave took punk’s promise of no more rules to heart further blurring the boundaries between music and theatre. The arrival of Lydia Lunch a 14-year-old runaway proved to be the catalyst for the no wave scene. Intensely attracted to bands such as Television and the Dead Boys Lunch helped nurture a coterie that prioritized “performance” over “musicality.”
Glen Branca is the hero of the second half of the book a talented musician and theorist who gave fans and critics a figure to coalesce around. (Other integral figures include Arto Lindsay and James Chance.) While No Wave meanders its way through in more or less chronological manner detailing the rise and fall of bands like Mars Mofungo and the Contortions its central event revolves around the impact the Brian Eno-produced compilation No New York had. Eno’s entry seemed to crystallize tensions that were already running in the community. The term “no wave” had only been coined a month before and Eno’s intention of capturing the moment on record created an impression of a “scene” with a cohesive sound.
No wave like punk was far more than just sonic experimentation and as an added bonus Moore and Colely have added sections on the cinema of the time. Again Lydia Lunch features strongly in many of the scene’s early films and later films soon included other musicians as well.
In the end though it was Eno’s interpretation of the scene that proved correct. While part of the strife and problems caused by the No Wave compilation centred around the belief that the scene was showing commercial appeal Eno seemed to understand that the fragile conditions enabling the cast-offs from New York’s art and music worlds to find common cause could only last so long.
