Chicago no wave

Chicago no wave was a music scene based in Chicago, Illinois during the early-to mid 1990s. The term was coined by Weasel Walter of the Flying Luttenbachers who began describing bands he played with as "Chicago no wave" in reference to New York City no wave. Other notable acts included Scissor Girls, U.S. Maple, and Brise-Glace.^[1][2][3][4]

Chicago no wave
Stylistic origins	No wave
Cultural origins	1990s, Chicago, Illinois
Other topics
Kansai no wave post-no wave

History

In the early-to-mid 1990s, Weasel Walter began to describe his bands and the bands they played with as "Chicago no wave."^[5][6] These acts formed the growing Wicker Park underground rock scene and included Walter's own band the Flying Luttenbachers, Scissor Girls, Trenchmouth, and Quintron.^[6] The bands played together at now-defunct venues such as the Czar Bar,^[6][7] Milk of Burgundy,^[6][7] and the Magnatroid.^[7]

According to Walter, the beginning of the Chicago no wave era was marked by a well-attended concert at the Czar Bar in Chicago on the 29th of January 1993.^[8] The concert featured the Flying Luttenbachers, Scissor Girls, and Trenchmouth.^[8] Another concert, on the 11th of February 1994 at the Cabaret Metro, featured the Flying Luttenbachers, Scissor Girls, and Math, and was characterized by Walter as a "bizarre, improbable high point in the public profile of the nascent Chicago No Wave."^[9] It was attended by 800 people.^[9]

In the mid-1990s, an audio documentary about the Chicago no wave scene was produced by Burke Patten.^[10] It was later remastered and edited by Weasel Walter in 2012.^[10] The documentary featured speakers like Walter, Bobby Conn, Marlon Magas, Kelly Kuvo, and Kevin Drumm and music by artists like Bobby Conn, the Flying Luttenbachers, Math, Duotron, Scissor Girls, and others.^[10] In the documentary, Weasel Walter said:^[10]

I feel really fortunate because, I guess, I didn't have to make any of this up... it's not like I'm trying to get my name into the history books, it's just like... during this certain period of time there were all these interesting people around who were doing their own things and we had some aesthetic similarities, although a lot of the bands were really different. But the continuity was we all had sort of the same aesthetics and the same drive and the fact that our musics were not what you would hear on the radio [...].

Legacy

In 2014, writer Phillip Crandall cited the band Couch finding "friends and enemies in Chicago's no wave scene".^[11]

Related genres

Brutal prog

Brutal prog is a music genre coined by Weasel Walter to describe the aggressively dissonant and musically eclectic strain of prog music associated with his band the Flying Luttenbachers of the Chicago no wave scene. Pitchfork characterized the style as a blend of punk, jazz, skronk, metal and improv music.^{[12][13][14][15]}