Math Rock

Math rock sounds like blueprints look: exact, precise, architectural. This trance-like progressive metal music with indie rock and jazz influences has been captivating and challenging listeners for decades. Bands associated with the genre include King Crimson, Black Flag, Don Caballero, Slint, American Football, Toe, Elephant Gym, Covet, and thousands more. In an online age of bedroom producers and sampled beats and loops, math rock is music that is absolutely and resolutely played: men and woman in rooms with instruments creating chaos, beauty, and beautiful chaos. This is the first book-length look at the global phenomenon. Containing interviews with prominent musicians, producers, and critics spanning the globe, Math Rock will delight longtime fans while also serving as a primer for those who want to delve deeper. It shows why and how an intellectually complex, largely faceless, and almost entirely instrumental form of music has been capturing the attention of listeners for 50 years-and counting.

Jeff Gomez is a writer based in the United States. He is the author of Zeppelin Over Dayton: Guided By Voices Album By Album (2020), Losing Our Edge (2018), Geniuses of Crack (1997), and Our Noise (1995).

Prologue: Friday Night in Chicago 1. All is Number: What is Math Rock? 2. Breadcrumb Trail: The Origins of Math Rock 3. Rollerblade Success Story: A Short History of Math Rock 4. Oh Messy Life: Genres Related to Math Rock 5. Savage Composition: Writing Math Rock 6. Tremolo + Delay: Playing Math Rock 7. Here Comes Everybody: The Internet and Math Rock 8. Cognitive Emancipation: Listening to Math Rock Epilogue: Friday Night in Sacramento Ten Essential Tracks Chapter Notes