New Wave is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the mid-1970s and came out of punk rock. The term was originally synonymous with punk rock, and it was only later that performers who began to go beyond the boundaries of classic punk rock began to be called by this name.… Read more
A bit of history
It is important to remember that at the time when the new wave was born, music was dominated by two very extreme trends. In the mid-1970s, concert halls resounded with the heavy sound of punk rock and post-punk music, i.e. strong guitar sounds, ambitious lyrics, and people identifying with this style wore glans, colorful iroquois and danced the pogo. At the other extreme was a completely extreme style, colorful, sonorous, light pop songs and an equally colorful and light culture tied to them. Contemporary listeners were slowly getting fed up with these two styles, and artists were also looking for something new and different. At some point, something comes along that is too mild for punk and too strong for pop. That's when a new wave begins to emerge. Artists began to combine styles, sounds, to give a new style to songs. From the United States and the United Kingdom, the new wave began to penetrate further into the world, and in the 1980s it had the peak of its popularity. Major trends emerged, with Neue Deutsche Welle, New pop, New Romantic, Synth-pop and Mod revival leading the way. Interestingly, new wave music never really passed away and is still popular and continues to evolve.
Subgenres of new wave
Cold wave
This is actually another name used for new wave mainly in France and Poland. Its development dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. Cold wave is mainly rhythmic sound of drums and bass guitar, strong guitar parts and keyboards. All this together creates a cool atmosphere hence the name. Representatives of the genre are mainly Joy Division, Xmal Deutschland, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, or Section 25, and the biggest star of this period was the band The Cure. In Poland, representatives of the cold wave include Variété, Made in Poland, 1984, Aurora, Madame, Joanna Makabresku, One Million Bulgarians, Mrs. Pinki Cosmetics, Bruno Doubtful, Ivo Partizan, Elk Enclave.
Dark wave
This is another subgenre of the style in question, characterized by the sound of discretizers, but its performers haven't completely abandoned traditional instruments. It has a lot in common with gothic rock. Representatives are: Clan of Xymox, Diary of Dreams, Deine Lakaien, The Cruxshadows, Switchblade Symphony.
Mod Revival
Another new wave genre but this time associated with the mods subculture. They renewed the old melodies of this style by adding some punk sound to them. Revivalists, like their predecessors, adhered to street life and did not shy away from fights with teddy boys, punks or harley riders. Bands associated with this note include the famous The Jam, as well as The Lambrettas, The Chords, Purple Hearts, and Secret Affair.
Neue Deutsche Welle
This is the music of the German youth underground from 1975-198. Characteristic of this trend are "angular lyrics", but also street German language. Bands representing this genre include Mittagspause, Abwärts, The Wirtschaftswunder, Der Plan and DAF.
New romantic
What distinguished the next subgenre of new wave, or new romantic, was the extensive use of electronic instruments, especially the synthesizer, in songs. Lots of sound effects made new romantic songs popular in discotheques. The lyrics were very often romantic and atmospheric. The most important groups were Depeche Mode, The Cure, Dead Can Dance , Siouxie & the Bunshees , Eurythmics, The Police, Tears for Fears, A-Ha, Joy Division, Blondie. And the undisputed stars of this period were Steve Strange, Midge Ure, Vince Clarke, Philip Oakley, Boy George.
Power pop
This is another variety of our trend, derived from the British and American pop-rock of the 1960s. Catchy melodies and economical arrangements are its hallmarks.
Summary
As you can easily see, the subgenres of new wave overlap, and performers are often classified are two or more subgenres at once. This is due to the fact that at different times a particular band made music in a different style, sometimes they released albums stylized in a particular subgenre, or simply experimented with the sound.