Suicide

USA, 1970–2016

New York duo of vocalist Alan Vega and keyboardist Martin Rev, formed in 1970 — pioneers of synth-punk. Confrontational live and stripped to a drum machine, a cheap keyboard and Vega's rockabilly wail, their 1977 debut ('Ghost Rider', 'Frankie Teardrop') became a foundation stone for post-punk, industrial and electronic music.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Suicide and 4 artists Suicide influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Suicide?

• Silver Apples — Alan Vega named Silver Apples as one of the core inspirations that led him to form Suicide — their oscillator-and-drum minimalism is the direct ancestor of Suicide's synth-punk.
• The Velvet Underground — Suicide grew out of the same downtown New York art-rock underground as the Velvet Underground, whose drone and menace they stripped to a machine pulse.
• The Stooges — The Stooges' raw, confrontational proto-punk shaped Alan Vega's aggressive stage persona and Suicide's primal energy.

Which artists did Suicide influence?

• Soft Cell — The nastier end of it — a drum machine, a cheap keyboard and a singer who sounds like he means the threat.
• Spacemen 3 — Suicide's minimal, hypnotic machine pulse and menace were a template for Spacemen 3's drone — Sonic Boom later worked in the same minimal-electronic vein.
• Stereolab — Suicide's stripped electronic minimalism is among the influences behind Stereolab's motorik electronics.
• LCD Soundsystem — Suicide's minimal electronic menace is among the acts Murphy draws on for LCD Soundsystem's rawer synth textures.