- Album list
- Singer Intro
Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, originally consisting of Steven Brown (born Steven Allan Brown on August 23, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois) and Blaine L. Reininger, used electronic violins, guitars, screaming vocals and synthesizers to develop a unique 'cabaret no-wave' sound. Bassist Peter Principle (Peter Dachert, 1954–2017) joined the band and in 1979 they released the single 'No Tears', which remains a post-punk cult classic. That year they signed to Ralph Records and released their first album, Half-Mute. Eventually Reininger left the group and Tuxedomoon relocated to Europe, signing to Crammed Discs and releasing Holy Wars in 1985. The band separated in the early 1990s, only to reunite later that decade. They all have remained together since releasing the album Cabin in the Sky in 2004.
Musical style
Steven Brown cites the band's early influences as 'Eno, Bowie, John Cage, Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota, Igor Stravinsky and Ennio Morricone'. Later and current influences include Radiohead, Claude Debussy, Miles Davis, Michael Nyman and the Velvet Underground. Their music finds influence in genres such as punk rock, jazz, funk, tango, and post-punk.
Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that their sound has an 'aura of jaded elegance', with a more European style musically versus what their American counterparts were creating at the time of the band's formation. Seattle Weekly described their music as radiating 'a discomfort that hints of existential hives.'
Lyrically, Tuxedomoon examined society, culture and psychology. 'Holiday for Plywood', on Desire, examined consumerism and paranoia.
Discography
Main article: Tuxedomoon discography
Half-Mute (1980)
Desire (1981)
Divine (1982)
Holy Wars (1985)
Ship of Fools (1986)
You (1987)
The Ghost Sonata (1991)
Joeboy in Mexico (1997)
Cabin in the Sky (2004)
Vapour Trails (2007)
Pink Narcissus (2014)
Blue Velvet Revisited w/ Cult With No Name (2015)
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