Human Switchboard

New wave is a broad, pop-oriented umbrella for styles that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s as a sleeker, more melodic outgrowth of punk culture. Initially, the term varied by region: in the United States it was first used by critics and labels (famously Sire Records’ “Don’t Call It Punk” campaign in 1977) to rebrand punk-associated artists with more radio-friendly aesthetics; in the United Kingdom it encompassed a wider constellation of fresh, stylish post-punk-era sounds. Over time, “new wave” became a catch‑all for hooky guitar pop, synth-driven songs, danceable rhythms, and modernist production sensibilities. Sonically, it blends tight, upbeat rhythms (often disco- and reggae-informed), clean chorus/flanger guitars, prominent synthesizers, and concise, hook-led songwriting. Its visual identity—sharp suits, futurist imagery, and fashion-forward presentation—was integral, aligning with the rise of music television and emphasizing art-school wit, irony, and modern urban themes.

Post-punk is a broadly experimental strain of rock that emerged in the late 1970s as artists sought to push beyond the speed, simplicity, and orthodoxy of first-wave punk. It typically features angular, bass-forward grooves; jagged or minimal guitar lines; stark, spacious production; and an openness to dub, funk, electronic, and avant-garde ideas. Lyrics often examine alienation, urban decay, politics, and the inner life with artful or abstract delivery. A studio-as-instrument approach, emphasis on rhythm section interplay, and an appetite for non-rock textures (tape effects, drum machines, found sound, synths) distinguish the style. The result can be danceable yet tense, cerebral yet visceral, and emotionally restrained yet intensely expressive.

Power pop is a guitar-driven style that distills the melodic immediacy of 1960s British Invasion pop into concise, high-energy rock songs. It emphasizes big hooks, ringing guitars (often Rickenbacker-style jangle), tight vocal harmonies, and punchy, economical arrangements that typically run around three minutes. Lyrically, it leans toward youthful longing, romance, and bittersweet nostalgia, delivered with bright major-key progressions, chiming arpeggios, and sing-along choruses. Though Pete Townshend used the term in the late 1960s, the genre cohered in the early 1970s with bands like Badfinger, Big Star, and the Raspberries, and it has resurfaced repeatedly in waves through new wave, indie, and modern pop-punk contexts.

Akron sound is the name given to the late-1970s new wave and art-punk scene that emerged from Akron, Ohio—nicknamed the Rubber City. It fused punk’s brevity and attack with art-rock eccentricity, midwestern power-pop hooks, and an increasingly synth-forward, mechanical pulse. Bands from the scene favored staccato guitar figures, rigid backbeats, and minimalist, sometimes motorik grooves, often topped with satirical or deadpan vocals about de‑industrialization, consumer culture, and suburban oddities. While stylistically diverse—from angular, synth-propelled Devo to horn-sprinkled, witty new wave like The Waitresses—the scene shared a DIY ethos, quirky humor, and a distinctly off-kilter, experimental edge.

Cleveland punk is a raw, abrasive strain of 1970s American punk rooted in the city’s post‑industrial landscape and art‑damaged underground. It marries the primitive drive of garage rock and proto‑punk with experimental impulses—tape noise, synth burbles, sax skronk, and deliberately jagged guitar tones. Compared to coastal scenes, Cleveland’s bands were harsher, more sardonic, and less fashion‑oriented: short, confrontational songs, trebly overdrive and feedback, pounding minimalist rhythms, and lyrics full of Rust Belt black humor and urban decay. Groups like electric eels, Rocket from the Tombs, Pere Ubu, the Dead Boys, Mirrors, and the Pagans defined a sound that was both proto–noise rock and a blueprint for later post‑punk and alternative rock.

Proto-punk is a catch-all term for the raw, stripped-down rock that immediately preceded and inspired punk rock. It favors abrasive guitar tones, primitive drumming, short song forms, shouted or deadpan vocals, and lyrics steeped in alienation, anti-establishment anger, and street-level realism. Emerging from 1960s garage rock, avant-leaning art rock, and hard-edged rhythm & blues, proto-punk connected the chaos of early rock and roll with the urgency of the 1970s punk explosion. Its sound ranges from the Detroit ferocity of The Stooges and MC5 to the arty minimalism and noise experiments of The Velvet Underground.