New Rock, sometimes referred to as Post Rock is a musical genre pioneered in the early to mid-nineties. It is typified by an in-classical use of classic rock instruments and instrumentation. Often realized through an electronic, or heavily effect-driven guitar New Rock espoused an almost Futurist disdain for the current state of rock. It's solution to it's contemporary problem of grunge, and brit-pop was to eschew the lyrical content of said forms. As a side-effect of New Rock's songs spindled and careened out of control length wise. Bands like Sigur Ros, and their Disaster Rock counterpart Godspeed! would frequently have track lengths of over ten minutes. Taking a cue from then contemporary Jam Bands often songs were not set in stone, and multiple live versions would increase a songs length interminably. Track lengths fed the dual result of softening New Rock's near Manifesto-driven nature by associating it with happy-go -lucky stoner-rock, and by assuming audiences cared to listen to a thirty-five minute song, increasing their intellectual elitism.
As the nineties wore on, New Rock grew increasingly derivative. By the time Mogwai released the near-perfect New Rock album Happy Songs for Happy People in 2003, the long-droning crescendo, and resolution formula was so well known the album hit a sour note. With little room to grow New Rock bands began reaching into different Post Punk styles searching for a way to reinvigorate the genre. By the time of Mogwai's 2006 release Mr. Beast New Rock was already in a state of decline. Frustrated by the genre's inability to evolve, groups began moving away into Art Rock, or disintegrated into Electro-Pop or Prog-Rock. Tracks like Acid Food, and I Choose Horses brought in such disparate elements as Country to become as unrecognizable as New Rock as anything else. The final nail in New Rock's coffin however would come from the unassuming Canadian octet Do Make Say Think. What had been a sweetheart of the genre in 2007 released the enjoyable, but disappointing You, You're a History in Rust . Do Make Say Think, in attempting to recreate ultimately destroyed. The divergent instrumentation of its forebears had disintegrated into passable but uninspired Canadian Indie Rock. Songs like A With Living have transparently classical lyrical structure, complete with verse and refrain.
New Rock was nice while it lasted. Like so many revolutionary genres what made it new and exciting was its limiting parameters. Unfortunately those limitations proved too great and led to it's own downfall. What we have now is not bad. As with most types of evolution, changes are usually for the greater good. The Art-Rock we have now though decidedly not New Rock, has not destroyed it. Instead New Rock lives on inside it, if in a reminiscent state only.
