Top 5 Anti-Guitar Heroes

Rock music is reactionary. New trends are born out of rebelling against what came before. So what is an anti-guitar hero? It’s a guitarist who reacts against clichés and, in a perfect storm, finds new ways to play a very old instrument. 

Spinal Tap is timeless and connects in a way that’s embarrassingly familiar to many musicians. Rock and roll can be comedic even when bands aren’t trying to be funny.

Punk rock revolted against 1970s bloat—long songs, even longer guitar solos, concept albums, and, fine: occasionally singing songs about druids. Rick Rubin was curious why hip-hop and rock music couldn’t co-exist. Likewise, Seattle grew tired of L.A.’s hairspray, leather pants, and misogyny and instead sold misery (and plaid) to the masses. Britpop was done taking those miserable Yanks’ lead and looked to the homeland for inspiration. And the anti-guitar hero, then, ironically becomes a new kind of guitar hero.

How Did We Get Here?

The classic guitar hero pulls from the past. Rock guitarists from the ’60s and ’70s were influenced by early blues; British guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page created their own sound after discovering Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon. The blues-rock approach of 1960s and early-1970s rock guitar became the well-traveled path for most guitarists. 

Then Edward Van Halen happened. Van Halen took what Clapton and Page were doing and mixed it with Mozart. After “Eruption,” the mind-melting song-length guitar solo EVH delivered for Van Halen’s debut album, rock guitar was forever changed. The guitar shops quickly filled up with kids dive-bombing and two-hand tapping on the instrument (or trying to, at least). 

Anti-guitar heroes shy away from this blues-rock approach. They avoid the traditional pentatonic-style guitar licks like the plague. And for clarification, the anti-guitar hero isn’t a synonym for “alternative” or “indie-rock” guitarists. But they are typically found in indie and alternative bands. After all, by definition, indie bands begin outside of the mainstream. Kurt Cobain, Johnny Marr, and John Frusciante, then, don’t make the list—they are full-blown guitar legends (though they certainly share an ethos with many anti-guitar heroes).

Will Sergeant from Echo & the Bunnymen, Graham Coxon from Blur, and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead would be important players to include on a slightly longer list. Then there’s the mighty Stephen Malkmus from Pavement; how can he not make the Top 5? And no Jack White? What about Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi from The Strokes? (To the latter question, kindly see Television below). And dear J Mascis fans: apologies, but again, these top five spots come at a premium. 

The guitarists on this list would no doubt recoil from the very idea of being considered a guitar hero. Regardless, they deserve their place in the spotlight, just this once. So let’s set aside any giant hair-flipping circular stage fans lying around and behold the Top 5 anti-guitar heroes.

1. Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)

With Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore helped change the course of rock music. He was raised on art and books in addition to music. The collection of culture in his family home served as a window into other worlds. It made sense he would go on to tune his guitar unconventionally, making it impossible to play traditionally. A musical descendant of the Velvet Underground and New York’s art scene, Moore fuses punk rock with avant-garde jazz to create a sound instantly his own. Check out “100%” from Sonic Youth’s album Dirty. 

2. Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead)

Jonny Greenwood is a respected modern classical composer, especially for film. He’s scored There Will Be Blood, The Master, Spencer, and many others. Before he became Radiohead’s lead guitarist, he played keyboards for the band. Greenwood mixes jazz and classical influences with post-punk bands like Magazine to arrive at his angular and unpredictable style. Not many rock guitarists use octatonic scales to create riffs (see “Just” from The Bends—an album that hadn’t even skewed that far from pop rock yet compared to the band’s subsequent records). But Greenwood isn’t really a rock guitarist anyway. He just happens to play guitar in a rock band…a very experimental and adventurous rock band. 

[RELATED: The Best 30 Jonny Greenwood Quotes]

3. Tom Verlaine (Television)

Tom Verlaine was a fixture in New York’s punk scene, but his band Television didn’t fit neatly into the punk category. The other paradox surrounding Verlaine is his outsized influence on music. Television broke up after only two albums and only experienced minor success. While other guitarists at CBGB covered their sound with distortion and angst, Verlaine moved through angular improvisations with grace. The 11-minute beauty of “Marquee Moon” has heavily inspired bands from Wilco to The Strokes. 

4. Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent)

Don’t think for a second that the anti-guitar hero shouldn’t shred. St. Vincent’s music is complex and shape-shifting, with face-melting riffs and inverted guitar solos. She echoes the art-rock stylings of David Bowie and Kate Bush. Reinvention is her tool of choice, and she’s a commanding virtuoso whose songwriting has challenged convention. Check out Clark’s signature riff, “Cruel” from her brilliant album Strange Mercy (2011). 

5. John McGeoch (Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees)

John McGeoch grew up listening to blues music. His early influences were Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. While studying art in college, he discovered punk music, and it ended up being a profound influence. He joined Howard Devoto’s new band, Magazine, which Devoto formed after quitting the punk band Buzzcocks to form something more broad-minded. Magazine’s debut, Real Life, was an early post-punk album. Later, McGeoch’s arpeggiated approach to playing created a whole new style with Siouxsie and the Banshees. Now there’s a long list of iconic guitarists who cite McGeoch as an influence: John Frusciante, Johnny Marr, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Robert Smith, and the Edge, amongst others.

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