New wave of new wave
Encyclopedia
The New Wave of New Wave (NWONW) was a term coined by music journalists to describe a sub-genre of the British alternative rock
scene in the early 90s, in which bands displayed punk
, post-punk
and New Wave
influences, particlularly from bands such as The Clash
, Blondie
, Wire
, and The Stranglers
. The band generally played guitar-based rock music
. The movement was short lived and several of the bands involved were later linked with the more commercially successful Britpop
, which it immediately preceded, and the NWONW was described by John Harris
of The Guardian
as "Britpop without the good bits". The NME
played a major part in promoting and covering the genre, and promoted the On event, which featured many of the bands they had labelled NWONW.
Record label Fierce Panda's first release, Shagging in the Streets, was a tribute to the scene, featuring S*M*A*S*H, Done Lying Down
, These Animal Men
, and others. Associated bands have included Elastica
, S*M*A*S*H, Menswear, Sleeper
, Echobelly
, Shed Seven
, These Animal Men
, and Compulsion
.
Robert Christgau
identified the mid-1990s NWONW movement as the peak of a new wave revival that has continued on and off since, stating "1994 was the top of a curve we can't be certain we've reached the bottom of".
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
scene in the early 90s, in which bands displayed punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
influences, particlularly from bands such as The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
, Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
, and The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
. The band generally played guitar-based rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. The movement was short lived and several of the bands involved were later linked with the more commercially successful Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
, which it immediately preceded, and the NWONW was described by John Harris
John Harris (critic)
John Rhys Harris is a British journalist, writer, and critic.-Early life:Harris was raised in Wilmslow in north Cheshire by a university lecturer and a teacher, daughter of a nuclear research chemist...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
as "Britpop without the good bits". The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
played a major part in promoting and covering the genre, and promoted the On event, which featured many of the bands they had labelled NWONW.
Record label Fierce Panda's first release, Shagging in the Streets, was a tribute to the scene, featuring S*M*A*S*H, Done Lying Down
Done Lying Down
Done Lying Down were a British-American rock group, active during the mid-1990s. Their reputation for intense, energetic live performances won the group major acclaim in the British music press and a number of devoted fans. The group's sound was a mix of singer Parker's American vocal style and the...
, These Animal Men
These Animal Men
These Animal Men were an English band who achieved minor fame in the 1990s as part of the New Wave of New Wave before splitting up after releasing two albums, in 1998.-History:...
, and others. Associated bands have included Elastica
Elastica
Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica, which produced singles that charted in the US and the UK.-History:...
, S*M*A*S*H, Menswear, Sleeper
Sleeper (band)
Sleeper were a British Britpop band in the 1990s fronted by Louise Wener. The band had eight UK Top 40 hit singles and three UK Top 10 albums. Their music was also featured in the soundtrack of Trainspotting.-Career:...
, Echobelly
Echobelly
Echobelly were a Britpop band, debuting in 1994 with their album Everyone's Got One. They were often compared to Blondie and were influenced by Morrissey, who himself was a fan of the group....
, Shed Seven
Shed Seven
Shed Seven are an English indie rock band from York and were one of the groups which contributed to the Britpop music scene that evolved during the 1990s, yet never received the degree of mainstream success achieved by bands such as Oasis and Blur...
, These Animal Men
These Animal Men
These Animal Men were an English band who achieved minor fame in the 1990s as part of the New Wave of New Wave before splitting up after releasing two albums, in 1998.-History:...
, and Compulsion
Compulsion (band)
Compulsion was an Irish punk band. They formed in the 1990 by Josephmary and Sid Rainey as Thee Amazing Colossal Men. They signed a recording contract with Virgin Records, but after winning a lawsuit against their record label, they became 'Compulsion' in 1992...
.
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
identified the mid-1990s NWONW movement as the peak of a new wave revival that has continued on and off since, stating "1994 was the top of a curve we can't be certain we've reached the bottom of".