Acid house is a subgenre of house music defined by the squelching, resonant basslines of the Roland TB-303 and the stark, machine-driven grooves of classic drum machines like the TR-808 and TR-909. It typically runs around 120–130 BPM, features a four-on-the-floor kick, offbeat hi-hats, and minimal, hypnotic arrangements designed for extended club mixing.
Emerging in mid-1980s Chicago, acid house became synonymous with underground warehouse culture and later the UK’s “Second Summer of Love” (1988–1989). Its iconic smiley imagery, trance-inducing filter sweeps, and endlessly evolving 16-step sequences established a sonic and visual language that reshaped dance music across Europe and beyond.
Acid house coalesced in mid-1980s Chicago, when innovators experimenting with the Roland TB-303’s idiosyncratic sequencer, slide, and accent features discovered its unmistakable “squelch.” Phuture (DJ Pierre, Spanky, and Herb J) recorded “Acid Tracks” (reportedly first played by Ron Hardy at the Music Box) and released it via Trax Records in 1987. The track’s undulating 303 line over a stark house groove set the template: repetitive, hypnotic, and designed for long-form mixing in dark, sweat-soaked warehouses.
The 303—originally intended as a bass accompaniment for guitarists—was repurposed through high resonance, cutoff sweeps, and pattern programming. This creative misuse, combined with Chicago house’s four-on-the-floor foundation and electro/disco lineage, birthed a new, raw sound.
Through DJ networks, white labels, and Ibiza’s cross-pollinating club scene, acid house reached the UK, catalyzing the “Second Summer of Love” (1988–1989). Clubs like Shoom and Spectrum, and venues such as The Haçienda in Manchester, popularized the sound and its euphoric, communal dancefloor culture. The genre became a lightning rod for media moral panics and anti-rave legislation, even as it crossed into the charts and seeded a nationwide rave movement.
By the early 1990s, acid’s DNA spread into breakbeat hardcore, rave, techno, trance, and Goa/psychedelic scenes. Producers in London’s squat party circuit pushed the style into harder, more mechanical territory (acid techno), while continental artists explored multi-303 layering and virtuoso programming. The 303 spirit persists through hardware clones, software emulations, and periodic revivals, with contemporary artists and labels continuing to mine its timeless, elastic energy.
