MATH ROCK

A Brief History of Math Rock

Math rock can be traced quite easily back to groups of musicians and bands in a few key regions of the USA. These were melting pots for angular guitar music in which similar bands influenced each other and formed the genre.

Chicago, Steve Albini and the Electrical Audio Recording Studio

Louisville

The city of Louisville played a similar lead role in the emergence of math rock, with bands like Slint, whose 1991 LP Spiderland is seen by many as a milestone for math and post rock. Rodan‘s 1994 album Rusty merges punk and hardcore with sweet & sour melodic interludes, featuring guitar harmonics, which have since become a kind of unofficial trademark of the genre. Gastr del Sol‘s Camoufleur was also influential for modern bands like Toe with their eclectic mix of energetic drumming, acoustic guitar, strings and ethnic music.

Seattle, San Diego and Sacramento

Often acclaimed as the home of grunge, Seattle was also a focal point of math rock on the west coast with bands such as Unwound who perfected the mix of dissonant guitar with driving drumming and prominent bass riffing. Minus the bear influenced and continues to influence a whole host of guitarists taking the tapping technique from metal virtuosos and applying it to clean guitar.

The Best Math Rock Bands

The following is a non-exhaustive list of the finest math rock artists. It is also just a starting point for those new to the genre. There maybe several or many of your favourites missing – not to worry, drop us a line and we’ll add them to the list.

Slint – jangly, dissonant guitar music with spoken word vocals. Their album Spiderland was the big bang for math rock and post rock.

Shellac – Minimalistic rock trio of producer Steve Albini with angular guitars, repetitive rhythms and asymmetric time signatures.

Rodan – One of the many bridges between punk and post-hardcore music and the math rock genre, with in-your-face vocals, ear-splitting guitars and animalistic drumming.

Don Caballero – Belonging to the Godfathers of post and math rock alongside Shellac and Slint, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were continually acclaimed by critics and listeners despite the multitude of line-up changes over the years. Energetic “Octopus-Style” drumming by Che, clean and mechanical guitars and ever-changing rhythmic meter.

Gastr del Sol – Eclectic mix of energetic drumming, acoustic guitar, strings. Ethnic music plays a dominant role, with traditional rhythms and melodic patterns of regional folk music from around the world.

Hella – Jazz-infused rhythms, intricate and complex guitar work obviously influencing a number of modern bands such as ASIWYFA.

Drive Like Jehu – angular, dissonant guitars and energetic drumming.

Tera Melos – Noisy, chaotic three piece with virtuoso guitarist and effect pedal wizard Nick Reinhart on vocals.

CHON – Virtuoso guitars underscored by almost free-jazz drumming, energetic, innovative. You cannot help to dissolve in a happy, dream-like state while jolting body parts in every direction. It is said the Chon gigs are comparable to dropping e.

TTNG – Squeaky clean counterpointed guitars and clockwork drumming of the band formerly known as This Town Needs Guns has pushed the Manchester trio to the forefront of the modern math rock movement. This band is one big exception to the unwritten law of “no vocals” in post and math-rock music. Henry Tremain’s melodic lead vocals lead the music and form the focal point but it is the blend of the syncopated rhythms between guitar, baritone guitar and drums that makes this band so exciting.

Battles – Evolved out of Don Caballero, Helmet and Tomahawk to form one of the most formidable lineups in the history of alternative rock music. Their 2007 album Mirrored was a benchmark for mechanical, melodious, mathematical rock music. Since the departure of keyboarder and vocalist Tyondai Braxton, they have never quite achieved the same level of brilliance, yet are still very much on top of their game.

Standards – The new poster boy for impossible guitar riffs. This instrumental 2-piece had a large following before even releasing an album, due to the high engagement on social media. Lightly overdriven guitar riffing, tapping and sliding along the fretboard with a solid rhythmic foundation on the drums.

Rumah Sakit – A now defunct tour-de-force of sonic, mathic noise. Rumah Sakit, which means hospital in indonesian, mixed jazz with avant garde, dissonant guitars, dropping drumsticks onto the studio floor, and built songs slowly before slamming them into your eardrums unexpectedly. Oh, and be careful with that fax machine!

And So I Watch You From Afar – The energy of this Belfast four-piece (a.k.a. ASIWYFA) is phenomenal. Audible influences include raucous punk and emo styles with whoa-ohs and near-impossible guitar riffs. Perfectionists in effects pedal tap-dancing.

Alarmist – in a nutshell, math rock with synths. The Irish four-piece blend lush, effect-laden guitars with dreamy synth pop melodies and jazzy drumming. Their music is very upbeat and energetic and much less abrasive than other bands who have emerged from the post-hardcore spectrum.

Mutiny On The Bounty – Mechanical, futuristic, art-rock from Luxembourg. They love their Pog pedals on their guitars and like Alramist, do not shy away from the good old synth to mix it up a little. Delay, reverb and other effects play a prominent role in their instrumental music.

Japanese Math Rock Bands

Toe – Emotionally charged, melodic, japanese math rock band with upbeat, energetic, jazz-infused drumming. Toe bring a vulnerability to math rock and a rare element in the form of a female vocalist.

Ruins – Listening to the remastered compilation 1986-1992 transports you immediately to a dimly lit dive bar with a band squeezed up on the stage in the far corner hammering out a tour-de-force on drums, bass and guitar, the vocalist howling into the overdriven PA. Ruins sound like they would ruin everything they come into contact with – mics, instruments, gear, studios, everything.

Downy – One of the more atmospheric bands on this list, Downy’s music is often deep, lush and laden with noise. The guitars are thick and fuzzy, the synths bring in an electronic element often missed in the genre, and the band provide a much more laid back and ponderous vibe.

Tricot – Often closer to post punk than math rock, Tricot bring an element of pop to the mix. The female lead vocals are so on point, they give the arrangements a jazzy vibe, despite the accessibility of the pop melodies. The drums are heavily infused with a drum’n’bass vibe, adding to the eclectic, genre-bending mix.

Jyocho – Jyocho have the ability to mix cinematic, soundtrack-esque vocals with jazzy, syncopated drums, while the guitars are noodling away on either side of the stereo image, without anything seeming out of place. It’s very clean cut and beautiful, but the guitars and drums really do well to keep the arrangements interesting and enigmatic.