Nintendocore[note 1] is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune with various hardcore punk and/or heavy metal subgenres, most often metalcore and post-hardcore. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore[10] and a fusion genre between metalcore and chiptune.[11] The genre originated in the early 2000s and peaked around the late 2000s[12] with bands like Horse the Band, I Fight Dragons, Math the Band, An Albatross, The NESkimos and Minibosses pioneering the genre.
| Nintendocore | |
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| Other names | |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 2000s, United States |
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Characteristics
Nintendocore frequently features the use of electric guitars, drum kits, and typical rock instrumentation alongside synthesizers,[13] chiptune, 8-bit sounds, and electronically produced beats.[1][3][14] It originated primarily from various subgenres of hardcore punk[3][13][15] and/or heavy metal,[16] (such as post-hardcore,[14][17] metalcore,[13][17] deathcore, cybergrind,[18] and screamo)[3][19] but artists in the genre have also incorporated elements of electro,[3] noise rock,[1][20] hardcore techno, ambient, glitch, breakcore,[21] and post-rock, among others.[17][22] Nintendocore groups vary stylistically and come from a wide array of influences. Horse the Band combines metalcore, heavy metal, thrash metal, and post-hardcore with post-rock passages.[3][17][19] "The Black Hole" from Horse the Band's third album, The Mechanical Hand, is an example of Nintendocore, featuring screamed vocals, heavy "Nintendo riffs," and "sound effects from numerous games."[23] Math the Band includes electro and dance-punk styles.[24] Minibosses use Kyuss-inspired heavy metal riffing,[25] and The Advantage is associated with styles such as noise rock and post-rock.[26] The Depreciation Guild was an indie band that incorporated 8-bit sounds, video game music, and elements of shoegaze.[27]
Some bands feature singing, such as The Depreciation Guild, whose frontman Kurt Feldman provides "ethereal" and "tender vocals,"[27] and The Megas, who write lyrics that mirror video game storylines.[28] Others, such as Horse the Band and Math the Band, add screamed vocals into the mix.[3][4][17][19][29] But yet other groups are strictly instrumental, such as Minibosses,[25] and The Advantage.[1][22] While otherwise diverse, all Nintendocore groups "use specific instruments to mimic the sounds of Nintendo games."[14]
Etymology
The term "Nintendocore" is a portmanteau of Nintendo, the popular gaming company from which many of the genre's influences and samples originate and the "core" suffix, which is often used to denote the various subgenres of hardcore punk.[30] The term was first used in 2001,[31] when Horse the Band frontman, Nathan Winneke,[13] originally coined the term "Nintendocore" as a joke and the term appeared on the band's I Am a Small Wooden Statue on a Patch of Crabgrass Next to a Dried Up Riverbed demo.[32][33] However, several members of the group have since attempted to distance themselves from the descriptor, such as former bassist Dashiel Arkenstone, who stated: "I reject it [Nintendocore] because it cheapens our music."[34] Winneke later explained: "It sucks when everybody is just like 'Oh this song about your mom getting beat, what game is this about?' we're very serious most of the time about our music and art, it's only a reference to the idea of blending the digital music of the games and things we grew up on with all the other music we love. It was just a fun idea at the time but everyone took it a hundred yards too far."[35]
History
Precursors (1978-2000)
The earliest precursors to Nintendocore can be found with the relationship between video games and chiptune with rock music. After the success of video games and eventual entering of popular culture in the late 1970s during the golden age, many music artists began capitalizing on video games, often using samples of games or having songs lyrically about a specific game, as well as appearing in them.
One of the first artists to do this was synth-pop pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra.[36] Emerging in the late 70's,[37] the group would sample Space Invaders sounds in their influential 1978 debut album, particularly the hit song "Computer Game". In turn, the band would have a major influence on much of the video game music produced after. Former Yellow Magic Orchestra member Haruomi Hosono would go on to release a 1984 album produced entirely from Namco arcade game music entitled simply Video Game Music, one of the first chiptune albums and the first video game music album.[38]
Other songs based on or sampling video games soon followed, including "Disco Space Invaders" (1979) by Funny Stuff,[39] "Space Invader" (1980) by The Pretenders,[39] "Space Invaders" (1980) by Uncle Vic,[40] and "Pac-Man" (1981) by "Weird Al" Yankovic.[41] Similar sounds used in other songs include the "tackled" sound from a Mattel electronic football game used in "The Logical Song" (1979) by Supertramp and a version of the song "Dixie" generated by the alarm of a digital wrist watch owned by Mick Jones used in Rock the Casbah (1982) by The Clash.[42][43][44]
Ian MacKaye, a key figure in the development of hardcore punk has mentioned his relationship with video games and how he enjoyed video games as a kid.[45][better source needed]
Buckner and Garcia, fans of Pac-Man, released novelty song "Pac-Man Fever" in 1981. Originally having little local radio success, CBS Records took notice and the single hit #9 on the Billboard charts in 1982. Later that same year, an album of the same name released on CBS Records quickly followed composed entirely of video game themed songs. Songs on the album featured audio samples of gameplay for each game, this in turn would be a precursor to the fusion of chiptune and rock used in Nintendocore.
Rock music has also influenced video game composers such as Koji Kondo, composer for Nintendo, often cited as being influenced by hard rock bands such as Deep Purple, Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Nobuo Uematsu who was influenced by Elton John and progressive rock.[46][47]
In 1982, Journey's seventh album Escape would influence the release of Atari 2600 video game Journey Escape, making it one of the first video games to be based on a rock band.[48] Other rock band-centric video games soon followed.[49]
Starting in the late 1980s, heavy metal and punk rock became increasingly popular, due to this, its music started appearing in or influencing more video games. Video games featuring or inspired by heavy metal and/or punk rock music included Doom (1993), Quake (1996), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999) and Crazy Taxi (2000).[50][51] Around this time, post-hardcore, a more creatively experimental form of hardcore punk, and metalcore, a fusion of heavy metal and hardcore punk began to emerge as well as one of the first fusions of electronic music and hardcore punk, digital hardcore.[citation needed]
The first known rock band to cover a video game song from an actual game however, was all-female indie rock group Autoclave with their cover of the theme song from popular video game Paperboy which was recorded in 1990.[citation needed] Other early rock groups known to cover video game songs were alternative rock band Pixies, who released a cover version of the main theme from the arcade game Narc as a B-side to the single "Planet of Sound" in 1991,[52] and avant-garde metal band Mr. Bungle, with their live cover of the Super Mario Bros. theme song, which was a regular staple throughout their 1990s concert setlist.[53] Mr. Bungle would also sample sounds from video games on their debut album from 1991, specifically the endings of "Carousel" and "Egg".[citation needed]
The early to mid-1990s would see the creation of cybergrind, an offshoot of grindcore which borrows heavily from electronic music.[54][55] Certain Nintendocore bands would later take from cybergrind.[18]
Appearing in the mid to late 1990s, electropunk musician Atom and His Package's "unusual instrumentation" would be a major influence on Nintendocore artists such as Math the Band.[56]
In 1998, Swedish hardcore punk band Refused would release their third album The Shape of Punk to Come which has elements of techno and electronica,[57] would later influence electronicore, a genre similar to and often confused with Nintendocore, bands such as Enter Shikari, one of the earliest electronicore bands. Also in 1998, Horse the Band would form with a more traditional hardcore punk sound and would release the Scabies, the Kangarooster, and You EP in 1999.[citation needed] The next year in 2000, self-defined "SID Metal" band Machinae Supremacy would form. The band combines power metal and alternative metal with the SID chip from the Commodore 64.[citation needed]
Origins (2001-2006)
Horse the Band,[13] the group who originally coined the term[32] have released five studio albums in the Nintendocore style, starting with 2000's Secret Rhythm of the Universe.[13][28]
Another Nintendocore pioneer is The Advantage,[58] whom The New York Times praises as one of the groups who brought video game music into the mainstream modern music spotlight.[2] The Advantage is an instrumental rock band formed by two students attending Nevada Union High School.[2][59] Spencer Seim first heard the original two band members play at a 1999 Nevada Union High School talent show, beginning his musical career, and continued to lead the group forward after high school.[60] The group "plays nothing but music from the original Nintendo console games."[2] By creating rock cover versions of video game sound tracks, they have "brought legitimacy to a style of music dubbed Nintendocore."[1]
Peak popularity (2006-2014)
The Phoenix-based rock group, Minibosses,[61] "[is] one of the most well-established bands in the Nintendocore genre, with an impressive roster of covers including Contra, Double Dragon, Excitebike," and covers of other video game themes.[28] Minibosses is known as one of the primary representatives of Nintendo rock,[62] performing at various video game expositions.[28] In addition to covers, the band has also produced original work.[28] The Harvard Crimson refers to Minibosses as "sworn rivals" of The NESkimos,[1] another Nintendocore practitioner.[28] The 2007 debut album by The Depreciation Guild,[63] In Her Gentle Jaws has been referred to as Nintendocore by Pitchfork Media. The website wrote that "In Her Gentle Jaws sticks its neck out further than Nintendocore staples like The Advantage or Minibosses", and that the album's instrumental title track "could plausibly come from an NES cartridge."[27]
Decline and recent developments (2015-present)
In 2016, a small group of modern Nintendocore artists including Unicorn Hole,[64] Polygon Horizon,[65] and Got Item![66] released a compilation album themed after the original Super Smash Bros. game. This album was released by the net label "Nintendocore Lives",[67] in an attempt to revitalize the genre.[68]
Math the Band formed in 2002 and made use of "analog synthesizers, vintage drum machines, old video game systems and shitty guitars" which helped define the sound that is commonly associated with Nintendocore.[69] Having played shows in the U.K., Mexico, and Canada with a variety of artists and rappers, they have helped spread the genre to venues outside of the United States.[69] Math the Band is one of the bands with the Nintendocore sound still active today, performing at MAGFest 2020[69][70] and their latest album Flange Factory Five releasing in October 2020.[71]