It seems like the broader
music world is finally catching up, sort of, with no wave, the more avant-garde
offshoot of the late-1970s/early 1980s New York punk explosion. The
scene-within-scene has been the subject of recent books, reissued records, documentaries,
and exhibits, and its best-known arbiters—the Contortions, Glenn Branca, DNA,
Mars, and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks—have been increasingly cited as influences
by newer bands. Singer Lydia Lunch, the leader of the latter outfit and a charter
creator of no wave (some say she coined the term, a dig at the more commercialized
new wave sound that also sprang from punk), will bring her current band, Retrovirus,
to the Avalon Lounge on November 17 for one of the group’s final shows.
Formed in 2012 by Lunch mainly
to survey the music she’s made from 1977 to now, Retrovirus performs selections
by Teenage Jesus and the Jerks as well as her other bands, 8 Eyed Spy, Big Sexy
Noise; Shotgun Wedding, her 1991 collaborative album with the Birthday Party’s
Rowland S. Howard; her solo albums, such as 1980’s Queen of Siam and
1981’s 13.13; and more. The present lineup of Retrovirus also features
guitarist Weasel Walter (Flying Luttenbachers, Cellular Chaos), bassist Tim Dahl
(Child Abuse, Pulverize the Sound), and drummer Kevin Shea (Storm & Stress,
Rhys Chatham).
Lydia Lunch Retrovirus
will perform at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill on November 17 at 8pm. DJs Tommy
Grenas and Scott Harris will spin deep and dark tracks. and Tickets are $25.
This article appears in November 2023.
