Your No-Wave Past Will Haunt You

Your No-Wave Past Will Haunt You
As the Village Voice put it last week, “extremist drummer moves to town to fuck shit up and kick your genitalia off“. While I am bummed the Voice somehow managed to mimic my initial thoughts on drummer Weasel Walter moving to New York, I am quite excited to see a publication of it’s size dedicating a fair amount of ink to a guy who is not only one of the most talented drummers kicking around the underground, but a guy I feel safe calling a visionary.

Walter’s own personal output –some of which sounds like free jazz, some like grind metal– makes up a pretty hefty catalog that makes the guy seem like the second coming of Sun Ra. There’s no doubt he’s an exciting eccentric, but one thing he is given little credit for is his influence in the resurgence of the late 70′s No Wave scene. It’s become hip to name check groups like The Contortions or Teenage Jesus and The Jerks because Walter decided to act like Alan Lomax, and document all of this stuff on his website way back in 2000.
So here’s to being the second publication (that I know of) to welcome Mr. Weasel Walter to the neighborhood. May your genitalia kicking days go on for a long time, and may your influence grow and grow and grow.

Tags: Alan Lomax, drummer, grind metal, New York, Weasel Walter

Jason Diamond is the editor-in-chief of Jewcy.com, founding editor of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and an associate editor at Impose Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn among a collection of books and records that is ...read more