Basically everything you hear these days you can say, “it sounds like X” and now some mad genius has made a map that tracks how every Alternative act has been influenced.
The map was created by a design studio Dorothy and it maps out the sonic influences of over 300 artists, managers and producers.
Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Joy Division and The Smiths are at the centre of the map and from there it stems out to modern bands like Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire and Sleater-Kinney who all sit at the edges of the map.
They basically track every genre and sub-genre that has been spawned over the last 50 years from indie rock to hardcore.
The map starts with The Sex Pistols. The creators were inspired by their 1976 show in Manchester and a rumour that states the crowd was made up of members of bands like The Smiths, Joy Division, and the Buzzcocks (according to Wired).
“Taking that gig as a starting point, I tried to map out the bands who influenced each other in some way up to that point, from the early proto-punk and garage rockers, through CBGB’s era of punk,” says James Quail, a designer for Dorothy.
“Then I mapped out where those scenes led through punk, post-punk, 2 tone & ska, hardcore, Riot Grrrl, Grunge, and so on.”
It’s a way of mapping out history but it’s also a way for people to seek artists to listen to based off things they already like.
“If you like one band you might like this other band because they hang out in the same scene, or share some band members, or they influenced each other,” Quail says.
Check out the full magnified map here. It’s also available to buy as a poster here.
Watch: The Sex Pistols Live In Manchester 1976
