Art-punk

Originating Location: US and UK

Originating Era: late 1970s

Key Artists

 * DEVO
 * Talking Heads
 * Wire
 * KaitO
 * Suicide
 * XTC

Key Albums

 * DEVO - Duty Now For The Future
 * Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings And Food
 * KaitO - Band Red
 * XTC - White Music

Genre Description
Art-punk is punk music that featured experimental elements; sometimes in the punk song structure, or sometimes with other studio experimentation. Art-punk often has sounds from outside the standard punk sound of guitars, bass and drums, be they synthesizers (in the case of early DEVO), studio work (in the case of early Talking Heads), or toys (in the case of KaitO), to name three possible sources. Sometimes the lyrics can be esoteric, and there's often an angular sound, with brittle and harsh guitars, or sometimes overly-distorted guitars. Art punk lead to many other genres, including Post-Punk (which it was sometimes/often considered a part of), New Wave, Shoegaze, and Noise-Rock.

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