Electronic rock (also known as synth rock and electro rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrumentation into their music. Electronic rock acts usually fuse elements from other music styles, including punk rock, industrial rock, hip hop, techno and synth-pop, which has helped spur subgenres such as indietronica, dance-punk and electroclash.
Overview
One of the earliest composers to use electronic instruments in a rock context was Joe Meek, with the 1960 concept album I Hear a New WorldShade, Chris (10 April 2015). "I Hear a New World: Joe Meek Took Music to Space and Changed Production Forever." VICE. Retrieved 23 October 2025 from vice.com."Joe Meek – I Hear a New World Album Review." Pitchfork. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2025 from pitchfork.com. and the 1962 single " Telstar", recorded by The Tornados.Cliffe, Laurence (2017). "Joe Meek’s Telstar: Progressive Creativity and Imagination in Independent Music Production." Academia.edu. Retrieved 23 October 2025 from academia.edu.Repsch, John (1989). The Legendary Joe Meek: The Telstar Man. London: Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1-85793-114-3. These works adapted instrumental patterns to an electronic studio setting, predating the later use of technology in rock music.Cliffe, Laurence (2017). "Joe Meek’s Telstar: Progressive Creativity and Imagination in Independent Music Production." Academia.edu. Retrieved 23 October 2025 from academia.edu.
The integration of electronic sound into rock music developed further during the mid-1960s. A notable example is the Beatles’ 1966 track "Tomorrow Never Knows", which musicologist Walter Everett describes as "an innovative example of electronic music as much as it advanced the leading edge of the rock world." Scholars and critics frequently cite the recording as a seminal work in the emergence of electronic rock, influencing later genres including new wave.
In the same year, the Beach Boys employed similar innovations on the hit " Good Vibrations", which Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, authors of the 2004 book Analog Days, credit with having "popularly connected far-out, electronic sounds with rock 'n' roll." Other early acts to blend and musique concrète's tape music techniques with rock instrumentation included Silver Apples, Fifty Foot Hose, the United States of America, White Noise, Gong,Syrinx, Lothar and the Hand People, Beaver & Krause and Tonto's Expanding Head Band. Many such 1960s acts blended psychedelic rock with avant-garde academic or underground influences.
In the 1970s, German krautrock bands such as Neu!, Kraftwerk, Can and Amon Düül challenged rock boundaries by incorporating electronic instrumentation. In 2004, Uncut described Kraftwerk's "incalculable" impact on electronic rock as being felt on major records like David Bowie's Low (1977) and Radiohead's Kid A (2000). Since the late 2000s, electronic rock has become increasingly popular.
Subgenres and other terms
Electronic rock is also associated with industrial rock, synth-pop, dance-punk, indietronica, and new wave, with electroclash, new rave, post-punk revival, post-rock, considered as subgenres. Sometimes, certain other electronic subgenres are fused with rock, such as trance music and techno, leading to the use of the terms trance rock and techno rock, respectively.
Synth-punk
In the early 1980s, synth-punk fused with various electronic genres to create electronic body music, which would influence a number of subsequent industrial dance, industrial rock and industrial metal acts. It also influenced the hardcore punk inspired digital hardcore, which combines hardcore punk with electronic music, Noise music and heavy metal.Interview with J. Amaretto of DHR, WAX Magazine, issue 5, 1995. Included in liner notes of Digital Hardcore Recordings, Harder Than the Rest!!! compilation CD. It typically features fast tempos and aggressive sound samples.
Later revival instances include electronic body music,Hillegonda C Rietveld (1998) This Is Our House: House Music, Cultural Spaces and Technologies Aldershot: Ashgate. dance punk, and electroclash. In the 2010s, synth-punk influenced the development of an internet microgenre known as egg punk which drew influence from Devo.
Hyper-rock
Hyper-rock, as a distinct musical style, is considered to have emerged in the late 2010s and early 2020s, although its foundational elements and experimental precursors date back further. Early sonic experiments in the 2000s laid the groundwork for the genre. Known forerunners include Sweet Trip's (2003) is considered a significant record for the genre, blending IDM, glitch, and shoegaze. Tracks such as "Fruitcake and Cookies" and "To All the Dancers of the World, a Round Form of Fantasy" illustrate the progression from fragmented electronic textures to euphoric, guitar-driven soundscapes, elements later associated with hyper-rock.
Hyper-rock is primarily built around rock guitars, which may range from dense, Reverberation-soaked layers reminiscent of shoegaze to harsher, evolving riffs influenced by black metal. Vocals are often heavily processed, employing techniques such as pitch shifting and the use of Auto-Tune. The style also incorporates glitched-out production and electronic elements, including programmed drums, synth textures, and fragmented soundscapes. The genre reflects a fusion of influences from a wide array of musical styles. Shoegaze contributes atmospheric textures and layered guitar sounds, while hyperpop informs its high-energy, glitch-oriented approach and vocal processing. IDM, glitch, and digicore provide jittery electronic elements and fragmented sound design. Some artists integrate aspects of heavy metal, Trance music, EDM, vaporwave, and Pop music.
Synth-metal
Besides synth-metal, electronicore, electrogrind, coldwave and dungeon synth, heavy metal is also sometimes mixed with other electronic genres and their subgenres, inspiring terms such as electronic metal, electronic dance metal, trance metal, techno metal, and cyber metal. BlabberMouth
See also
- Alternative dance
- Dance-rock
- Electronics in rock music
- Electropop
- List of electronic rock artists
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