New Wave Meets Rave, or Does It?

What first began as a joke has now become a world-wide phenomenon. The popular UK music magazine known as New Music Express (NME) is said to be responsible for coining the term New-Rave back in ’06-‘07 in trying to describe a new musical movement that was taking place. Such bands in the genre (whether they like it or not) include the likes of Klaxons, Datarock, and New Young Pony Club. Klaxons have been said to actually despise the term new-rave claiming that it’s just a joke “that’s gotten out of hand”. The word New Rave is derived from mixing the names of two genres; the genres being New Wave and Rave. Considering that the rave scene has always been huge over in the UK, one would think that many of its people would at least notice that new rave represents only a little of both new rave and rave, and sounds more like indie pop music mixed with electronica. Although SOME (I can’t stress the word “some” enough) of the music itself is actually pretty good, it also brings along psychedelic light shows, glowsticks, and a huge wave of loud/colorful fashion.

LA vs. UK

Many people in the US have probably noticed the large colorful fashion trend amongst music fans and club-goers alike. You can’t step into a club anymore without the feeling of being in some cheesy 80’s/90’s club scene. The only difference between Los Angeles and the UK’s colorful fashion is that LA seems to have taken the fashion even further and tied it into hip-hop’s 80’s/early 90’s urban roots. This can easily be seen with the revival of the hi-top NIKE basketball shoe. Many artists and designers have been working with the NIKE sneaker and making many promotional and rare colorful versions that kids are eating up. Now mix these sneakers with one or more of the following clothing items: colorful drainpipe trousers/leggings/spandex, a large baggy t-shirt/tanktop (sometimes containing Dr. Dre or some other rap act), a colorful flat-brimmed baseball hat (they can’t dare to bend it), and some funky sunglasses. The ever-so-common bright hooded sweater with various neon designs is also sometimes paired up with any or all of the above. All of these together basically sum up the typical attire of today’s club-goers in their attempt to express their love for indie and rap music.

“New Rave? Nu-Rave? How’s About No Rave!”

It’s hard not to notice the outfits when they’re louder than the music itself. Many people are probably wondering how long this trend will last, for they are definitely fed up with it screaming at them. No one could have said it any better than my good friend Ross Angeles, “New Rave? Nu-Rave? How’s about No Rave!” Certain places like London and Europe (Spain for example) are beginning to swing once again with retro 60’s sounds and style, which means there’s probably better fashion somewhere off in the horizon. I guess we’ll just have to wait until it finds its way to shore.

Photos Courtesy of: AND! (DANCEATARENA.COM)