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Noise rock, sometimes called noise punk, is a distortion-heavy style of experimental rock that emerged from punk in the 1980s, drawing influences from minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore. Characterized by extreme levels of distortion, artists use electric guitars and occasionally electronic instrumentation to create percussive sounds or enrich the overall arrangement. While some bands, like Sonic Youth, incorporated melodies within droning textures to make the genre more accessible to alternative rock audiences, others, such as Big Black, Swans, and the Jesus Lizard, leaned into its harsher, more abrasive qualities.
Low – Hey What Low’s Hey What, released in 2021, is a transformative and emotionally potent album that cements the band’s legacy as sonic innovators. The record builds on the experimental groundwork laid by their previous work, Double Negative, but pushes even further into the abstract with a stark, minimalistic approach and distorted soundscapes that…