No Wave is a short lived underground avant-grade and anti-art movement and music scene in New York City started as an reaction to New Wave and the state of NYC at the time. It began in the late 70s and fizzled out in early 80s, although later groups carried on the legacy after the original scene by adopting the aesthetic and a similar approach to music. The term was coined during the creation of the split album " No New York ."

No wave emerged in New York City during the 1970s, one of its earliest proponents was the band Jack Ruby who formed in Albany, New York in 1973, they are generally known for being an early influence on Sonic Youth and Thurston Moore and as pioneers of the aesthetic, philosophy, and sound of no wave. The band's lineup included Randy Cohen on drums and synthesizer, and Boris Policeband, who played viola through an FM transmitter while strapping police walkie-talkies around his waist. Later, bassist George Scott III joined the no wave group James Chance and the Contortions and also collaborated with Lydia Lunch of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks in the band 8 Eyed Spy.

Other artists such as DNA, Mars, Glenn Branca, the Contortions, Rhys Chatham, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and more would later emerge.

No Wave reacts angst the commercialization of rock music in the 70s by trying to make it as uncommercially viable as possible. It achieved this by using elements such as atonality, dissonance, non-unified tempos, abrasiveness, angularity, buzzing guitars and skronk, tribal drumming, etc with vocal delivery that sounds really anxious and often off-key (Assuming the song even has a key). The idea was that anybody could pick up a guitar and make something interesting with it if they were creative enough, even if they have no knowledge of the instrument or music theory.

The first pioneer in the scene was the synth-punk duo "Suicide" consisting of Alan Vega and Martin Rev in the mid 70s. While their sound was a bit different the bands that followed, they laid down the key elements and motifs that other no wave artists would follow

The scene really kicked off around 1978 when DNA, Theoretical Girls, and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks were formed, with other bands soon following. In 1978, Brian Eno was in new york city to produce the talking head's 2nd album when he saw the bands playing and wanted to document the strange music he heard. So he invited 4 of the bands to Big Apple Studio to produce the split album "No New York" which became the de facto no wave album in the original scene.

The most notable performance of no wave music was the music festival "Noise Fest" which was conducted by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth at the White Columns art space in June 1981. Each night 3 to 5 acts performed including Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Jeffrey Lohn, Dog Eat Dog, Built on Guilt, Rudolph Grey, the Avant Squares, Mofungo, Red Decade, Robin Crutchfield's Dark Day, Ad Hoc Rock, Smoking Section, Chinese Puzzle, Avoidance Behavior, and Sonic Youth.

By 1982 almost all of the bands in the original scene had disbanded. Bands after the original scene such as Sonic Youth and The Swans took heavy inspiration from the original no wave scene and created their own take on the style (Especially in their early music) albeit relatively more melodic than the previous no wave scene. The had genre also had an influence on noise and industrial bands in the coming years such as Big Black, Lev Six, Helmet, and Live Skull

The no wave scene also bleed into local cinema and visual arts

No wave fashion took a more satirically "Professional" approach to fashion of punk. Wearing things such as Rumpled, second-hand suits, button-up shirts, biker jackets and old sweaters. As well as more tight clothing and short proto-goth haircuts

Resources to listen to and learn more about No wave