Electroclash: Punking Up the Techno Flavor

Music doesn't come from a vacuum. It flows like water from one location to another like creeks and tributaries that constantly break off and return to the source. The music genre of electroclash is no different. Electroclash, euroclash, neo wave, synthcore: it all boils down to the same thing . Imagine the new wave bands played ad nauseum in the 80s if they listened to the Sex Pistols and Iggy Pop for the past couple decades. Perhaps electropunk is the best, most descriptive term for the genre. This is electroclash.

The History

In the beginning, there were hippies and punk said, "Let there be anger." And there was and it was good. Punk (see the Sex Pistols and the Misfits) began in the cultural centers of New York City and London, England as a reaction to the peaceful love-spouting flower children of the 60s. Loud, crass anger could only last so long before burning itself out. The ideals of the genre, however, lived on. Musicians discovered it was alright to scream. It was alright to distort your guitar until it was nothing but fuzz. And most importantly, it was alright to express a blatant opinion.

What followed was a style called "post-punk" whose music can still be heard in various forms on the radio today. The movement was mostly based in Britain where bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, Siouxsie & the Banshees (Britain's equivalent of Blondie), and The Cure originated. These bands weren't afraid to criticize the world around them or sing about the darker aspects of life. As The Cure have proven time and time again, this didn't necessarily mean the music itself had to be reminiscent of dirges.

And on the second day, God made the synth and said, "Let there be style over substance." And new wave, with the help of MTV, was born. With wild hair and clothing, new wave followed punk's visual sensibilities but took its content from pop (see Depeche Mode and New Order). Synths, keyboards, and drum machines replaced the guitar and bass. The entire genre came down to electronics and make-up. Two decades later and the music is heard more often in an elevator than on a radio station.

When "grunge" music came along in the early 90s, it brought with it the content of punk without the style. Loud, almost-obnoxious guitars were at the forefront (see Nirvana and Pearl Jam). The masses rejoiced for they didn't have to buy cases of hairspray anymore. Dirt and masculinity replaced new wave's androgynous clothing style. Grunge didn't so much as reinvent punk as it did become punk's slightly handsomer brother. But like its uglier sibling, grunge eventually went the way of the dodo.

And Now?

Changes in musical styles precede changes in society. After grunge disintegrated, alternative music fragmented. Rap became a fixture of music, much like pop, to the point where the two are sometimes hard to distinguish from each other (see Christina Aguilera and Lil' Kim). But for years, there hasn't been any definitive alternative to the norm. "Alt rock" radio stations play emo punk, dance, and blues all within 20 minutes. No one style predominantly controls the airwaves.

But somewhere in the mix, under the underground, lies electroclash with bands like Fischerspooner, Peaches, and the Faint. It watched as punk proudly raised the middle finger, as new wave did too much coke and wore too much makeup, and as grunge went against the grain until it became the grain. It kept an ear open as rap went from simplistic tunes about the "rhythm of the boogie, the beat" to a juggernaut of the music industry. And finally, it sprang to life as Do-It-Yourself home recording technology evolved (or maybe devolved) to the point that any kid with a laptop can make a song from his bedroom.

The nihilism of punk. The wild style of new age. The gritty melodies of grunge. The technology of dance. The bastard child of the last three decades of music. This is electroclash.