History QuirkyWork / Music

%%* Music/{{Psychostick}} is a WHAT mixed with LyricalDissonance. For example, one of their most popular songs is explaining [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DvnOYZnlns how a song is not a song, but a sandwich,]] set to hard rock. Another is a borderline screamo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3tcQI5EEiA talking about tacos and how awesome they are]]. It does not make sense in context either.

%%* Zappa's contemporary and frequent collaborator Music/CaptainBeefheart is another prime example of a WHAT. Albums like ''Trout Mask Replica'' must be heard to be believed.

%%* Music/{{Kraftwerk}} originally started out as just another Krautrock group before turning into one of ''the'' pioneers of electronic music, however quite a bit of their discography is comprised of songs about [[MundaneMadeAwesome otherwise boring subjects]] such as using calculators ("Pocket Calculator"), how radio transmissions work ("Antenna"), train travel ("Trans-Europe Express"), calling somebody on the phone ("The Telephone Call"), and driving on the highway ("Autobahn").

%%* Music/TheBonzoDogBand were a band in the 60s before Creator/MontyPython existed, and have been cited as a major influence on Python. (Neil Innes later went on to work with Python, Music/TheRutles and Creator/TerryGilliam, while Vivian Stanshall had a less successful career performing comic monologues that were even weirder.)

%%Possible misuse * Music/{{Rush}} features political undertones in [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness long-winded, wordy lyrics]] all wrapped up in a crispy PowerTrio shell, while their singer/bassist/keyboardist sings at such a pitch that it takes a few listens to figure out whether he's male or female.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfss4Julqv4 The Boredoms]]. Two drum kits, a carnival organ and a swinging worklight, what can go wrong?

* Plus-Tech Squeeze Box. Their first album is pretty standard Shibuya-Kei fare, but their cartoon-themed second album, "Cartooom!" is when things get weird. With album art resembling ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' or ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', [[GratuitousEnglish barely comprehensible English lyrics]], gratuitous use of stock cartoon sound effects, and song titles like ''[[WordSaladTitle Uncle Chicken's Drag Rag]]'', it's about as widget as it gets.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[/folder]]

!!Africa
[[folder:South Africa]]
* Music/DieAntwoord could be classed as a WSAT (Weird South African Thing).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Nigeria]]
* William Onyeabor is a famous one. His origin is [[MysteriousPast incredibly mysterious]], but in 1978, he financed his own music studio, and bought a number of then cutting-edge synthesizers (which were prohibitively expensive in the 70s, especially in Nigeria). His music consisted of [[EpicRocking extended jams]] that blended [[GenreBusting African percussion, western funk and warbling synths]], all with simple lyrics that alternate SillyLoveSongs and political commentary. His 6 albums became great successes in Nigeria, and later had became a huge influence on artists like Music/LCDSoundsystem. In 1984, he became a born-again christian and was seldom heard from again, never rereleasing his music until the Luaka Bop label managed to track him down in 2015.
[[/folder]]

!!Americas
[[folder:Brazil]]
* Brazilian funk is pretty weird in itself (a WBF?) but is still a mostly authentic expression of life in the slums. Brazilian funk from Curitiba, on the other hand, takes everything weird in the genre, the openly sexual but silly-sounding lyrics, the repetitive samples and sound bites and the very liberal use of profanity and takes it even further.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:USA]]

* Music/{{Devo}} are a WHAT (Weird Humorous American Thing), with a devolved monkey boy as a mascot, his father, General Boy, ''Recombo DNA''.
* Music/NeutralMilkHotel are quite quirky, specially in the WordSaladLyrics drawing esoteric narratives.
* Music/WallOfVoodoo did a fair amount of these, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0OEKhwdxNU especially during the original line-up.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKybllIxIlQ The second line-up did a good job sometimes, too.]]
* Music/WeirdAlYankovic is a Weird American Thing, by virtue of parodying stuff Americans would be familiar with. [[ParodyDisplacement Or not]].
* Music/{{Psychostick}} is a WHAT mixed with LyricalDissonance. For example, one of their most popular songs is explaining [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DvnOYZnlns how a song is not a song, but a sandwich,]] set to hard rock. Another is a borderline screamo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3tcQI5EEiA talking about tacos and how awesome they are]]. It does not make sense in context either.
* The Music/NewYorkDolls crossed glam into cross-dressing.

* Half Japanese were founded in Coldwater, Michigan in 1974 (or '75) by two teenage brothers with no formal musical training. Or interest ''in'' formal musical training. Especially chords. To boot, their first full album was a ''triple-LP set''.

--> Vaguely Interesting Trivia Time: The Boss threatened to walk off his label unless they agreed to sign Suicide, which became their first contract. Aside from aforementioned live cover, several songs show a clear influence, most notably State Trooper from ''Nebraska''.
* Another very early (pre-'77) "punk" group, Music/TalkingHeads, simply fit the WAT trope to a T, though frontman Music/DavidByrne hailed from Scotland via Canada.
* Taking it one step further, Music/TheResidents, from a Concept Ambient album about the Eskimos in the Arctic, to a slowed down, distorted cover version of Music/JamesBrown's [[Music/LiveAtTheApollo live album]].
* Music/FaithNoMore. Their music is very weird. The weirdest project of frontman Music/MikePatton is Music/MrBungle, a band that sometimes changing genres several times within a song.
* New wave band Music/TheB52s. They have a couple normal songs, but the vast majority of their stuff falls squarely into WAT territory. These are the minds that gave us "Rock Lobster".
* [[http://www.littlefyodor.com Little Fyodor]] is a world-class W(H?)AT, with frenetic/manic music verging on outsider art.
* Music/DoctorSteel was both weird and humorous. (How could "babies with buzzsaws" be anything else?)
* Music/{{Ween}} is a definite WHAT, with weird lyrics and subject matter.
* Music/{{Primus}} is a WAT band, a band with such a strange mix of bass-led FunkRock, ThrashMetal, ProgressiveRock and PsychedelicRock that they're the only band on Winamp with their own [=ID3=] tag.
* Music/FrankZappa is a ''definite'' WHAT. A GenreBusting sound combining rock, jazz, classical, blues and god knows what else, lots and lots and ''lots'' of EpicRocking steeped in extreme instrumental proficiency and UncommonTime, wacky, satirical lyrics about things ranging from the counterculture to being infected with gonorrhea, and rock operas where the main protagonist develops a sexual attraction to kitchen appliances are just a few of the things he brings to the table.
* Zappa's contemporary and frequent collaborator Music/CaptainBeefheart is another prime example of a WHAT. Albums like ''Trout Mask Replica'' must be heard to be believed.

* Music/MarilynManson took the "shock rock" aesthetic of Music/AliceCooper and really ran with it to the point of entering unquestionable weirdness, between the crossdressing, makeup, androgyny and [[http://www.nachtkabarett.com/Grotesque abundance of surreal imagery]] (at times twisting familiar subjects, as the video for "The Fight Song" features a game of American football in the rain between goths and jocks), plus criticizing American culture with what usually enters WordSaladLyrics ("All simple monkeys with alien babies\Amphetamines for boys, crucifixes for ladies").
* The Music/VelvetUnderground. Urban legend has it that only 10,000 copies of their albums were sold during the band's career... But everyone who bought those 10,000 copies went on to form a band.
* Music/CiboMatto often reference food in their songs, and have a strange, GenreBusting style of music. Although based in New York, both founding members are Japanese.
* Music/TheyMightBeGiants have lyrics that can rival Rush and Weird Al in their being so eccentric.

* Music/TheTubes combined biting satire with envelope-pushing stage shows - just before Creator/{{MTV}} began transmission - most notably with the 1981 album ''The Competion Backward Principle'' and its accompanying video show.
* [[https://calvinwilkerson.bandcamp.com/ Calvin]] [[https://calvinwilkerson4.bandcamp.com/ Wilkerson]]. [[ShoutOut Shout-outs]] to cartoons, EpicRocking galore, and barely any lyrics.

[[folder:Canada]]
* Music/TheArrogantWorms, a Weird Canadian Thing.
* To many, Music/{{Rush}} qualify as a Weird Canadian Thing. Political undertones in [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness long-winded, wordy lyrics]] all wrapped up in a crispy PowerTrio shell, while their singer / bassist / keyboardist sings at such a pitch that it takes a few listens to figure out whether he's male or female.
[[/folder]]

!! Asia:

[[folder:Japan]]

** The usual stereotype? [[EpicRiff Hard-hitting]] music [[InTheStyleOf similar]] to Slayer, Metallica, Pantera, Slipknot, or Converge played by musicians who [[DudeLooksLikeALady look]] and even [[WholesomeCrossdresser act]] like [[ElegantGothicLolita Gothic]] {{Anime}} characters.
** By far the worst offender is Music/DirEnGrey. Seriously. Though they've abandoned their VK roots, they still easily qualify thanks to their weird sound, their singer's great vocal range, their sometimes INCREDIBLY heavy songs, even for DeathMetal standards, and by far the best reason... MindScrew. '''Tons''' of it.
* Go on Website/YouTube and search for "Halfby." You will not be disappointed.
* Music/{{Polysics}}, a Music/{{Devo}}-inspired WJT (Weird Japanese Thing) tha mixes equal parts new wave, electronica, and CrazyIsCool.
* Music/ShonenKnife and their bizarre lyrics about jelly beans and rubber bands.
* Noise and NoiseRock, while not especially popular there, are ''much'' more mainstream in Japan than in many other countries, if only because said country has been producing weird, noisy groups like Les Rallizes Dénudés and Hijokaidan since TheSixties and [[TheSeventies Seventies]]. Which, technically, [[UrExample predates both genres]].
* Japanese chiptune DJ Higedriver doesn't fall into this with his more widely known work, which are primarily amazing non-vocal chiptunes. But you take a look at some of his other albums, and you're finding songs like "2nd Massachusetts Love Platoon"

* Music/{{Versailles}} is a widget band in a [[VisualKei widget genre]]. Still managed to get a decent international following, despite the cursed-with-immortality backstory, Kamijo's [[ChewingTheScenery love of the stage]], and [[DudeLooksLikeALady Hizaki's]] [[ElegantGothicLolita frilly dresses]].

* Tokyo-based quintet Koenji Hyakkei, who wear their Music/{{Magma}} influence on their sleeves, may be the only known example of Widget filtered through WTF.

* Music/ManWithAMission. Japanese? Check. Weird? Well, they constantly wear wolf masks and claim to be wolf-human hybrids created in a laboratory many years ago...
* Japanese pop groups composed of cute teenage girls, such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Musume Morning Musume]] and other Music/HelloProject groups, come across to Western audiences as Weird Japanese Things.
** Hangry & Angry, with Hitomi Yoshizawa and Rika Ishikawa from Morning Musume, qualify as well.
** For an earlier example that even has men on the line-up, Music/PizzicatoFive. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z22nzBVLCto Twiggy!]]

** Which more than likely spawned Music/LadyBaby, which is a similar take but including crossplaying male member doing the metal vocals.

[[/folder]]

!!Australasia
[[folder:Australia]]
* The Australian "little bands" scene of the late '70s and early '80s is a STANZA (Strange Thing from Australia/New Zealand/Australasia) among [=STANZAs=].
* Music/TheAvalanches create absolutely weird music out of intense sampling. Frontier Psychiatrist is possibly the most iconic example of the indescribable weirdness they create. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLrnkK2YEcE Just take a look]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:New Zealand]]
* Music/SplitEnz was a case of a band actually trying to be as Widget-y as possible (Weird New Zealand Thing more precisely), though later subverted as they eventually got fed up with their Widget status. Even then, they still retained a sense of Australasian quirkiness right to the end.
* Much of the humour of the STANZA Music/FlightOfTheConchords (and their TV show, where New Zealand is a {{Cloudcuckooland}}) comes from exploiting this trope.
* The Topp Twins are a STANZA.
* Every Christmas/New Year holiday break, New Zealand's national public radio station RNZ goes "mufti day" and hosts the "[[http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/matineeidle Matinee Idle]]" radio show, where SoBadItsGood, {{camp}}y and novelty music is played back for laughs.
[[/folder]]

!!Europe
[[folder:Finland]]
* Music/{{Finntroll}} is a weird Finnish thing. They're primarily a cross between humppa (a Finnish variety of polka) and black and death metal, who sing songs in Swedish about how much fun it is to be a [[OurTrollsAreDifferent troll]], smash villages and terrorize Swedes. They also have a fondness for dressing in steampunk troll outfits and for instruments like the kazoo and the banjo.
** Music/{{Lordi}} also qualifies to an extent.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:France]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUtryO_NHBU Absolute Psalm]] by Igorrr. Pampelmuse. Enough said.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd1WvHiM24 Empalot]], the avant-garde side project created by the Duplantier brothers of the famed metal band Music/{{Gojira|Band}} is a WTF (Weird Thing from France), through and through.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Germany]]
* German "kraut/kosmiche" band Neu! released the single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqImDJXtFN0 "Super"]] in 1972. Now compare it with what was going on in Britain, like, say, Yes.
* Music/{{Can}} was a PEGS ('''P'''eculiar & '''E'''ccentric '''G'''erman '''S'''ubject)) band. The core of the band were classical and jazz musicians, some of whom were students of Karleinz Stockhausen. They sounded pretty much like you'd expect jazz and experimental musicians who played rock and roll to.

* Music/{{Kraftwerk}} are a PEGS band. They originally started out as just another Krautrock group before turning into one of ''the'' pioneers of electronic music, however quite a bit of their discography is comprised of songs about [[MundaneMadeAwesome otherwise boring subjects]] such as using calculators ("Pocket Calculator"), how radio transmissions work ("Antenna"), train travel ("Trans-Europe Express"), calling somebody on the phone ("The Telephone Call"), and driving on the highway ("Autobahn").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Iceland]]
* Music/{{Bjork}} is a Weird Icelandic Thing.
** When it comes to music, Iceland has a ''lot'' of Weird Icelandic Things. There's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhc-yen-KYQ educational]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9tRkcHGQpY death metal]], music festivals in [[http://www.borgarfjordureystri.is/heim/moya/news/braedslan-nanar-um-dagskranna/ abandoned fish factories]], a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vasXdhKJUo4 transsexual heavy metal singer at the country's foremost concert venue educating the young children in the front row between songs]], or in general the very concept of a country with less people than the city of Santa Ana, California producing in the ballpark of a thousand incredible bands.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Norway]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sweden]]
* Jonny Jakobsen, also known as Dr. Bombay, Dr. Macdoo and Carlito, is a case of really weird Sweden-made music. A notable {{Fauxreigner}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:United Kingdom]]
* When the genre first emerged around 1974, punk rock was a totally alien phenomenon. Really, think of mainstream Seventies rock. Now, think of [[Music/SexPistols Johnny Rotten]]. Even more so, there are really early bands that most people skip over, which are listed above and below.

* Music/TheBonzoDogBand were a WBFT in the 60s before Creator/MontyPython existed, and have been cited as a major influence on Python. (Neil Innes later went on to work with Python, Music/TheRutles and Creator/TerryGilliam, while Vivian Stanshall had a less successful career performing comic monologues that were even weirder.)
* ''{{Music/Gorillaz}}'' are most definitely a Weird British Thing. The band consists of a blue haired, pain killer addicted lead singer with [[EyeScream no eyes]], a green skinned [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] satanist bass player, a young Japanese TykeBomb guitarist mailed to them when she was ten, a drummer from Brooklyn with a DemonicPossession issue, and a homicidal [[RobotGirl cyborg]] version of the aforementioned guitarist. They have such adventures as trying to blow up 300 ft. elk, fighting off the zombies that reside outside their studio, and escaping [[DealWithTheDevil deals with the Devil]] by hiding out on an island made entirely of plastic floating in the ocean. Oh, and they technically don't even exist.
* Music/BlackSabbath qualified as a Wabbit when they first popped up. Heavy metal was brand new and apparently, at least once, one of their very first songs during an early concert sent half the audience running out of the venue screaming. And despite being hated at first, they've been VindicatedByHistory and are now widely hailed as the fathers of heavy metal, with each of the original members (and [[Music/RonnieJamesDio one replacement]]) being called a virtuoso or musical genius in his own right.
* {{Music/Cardiacs}} are a British band who take GenreMashup to an extreme by combining the seemingly polar-opposite genres of PunkRock and ProgressiveRock, a blend often referred to as [[FanNickname "pronk"]]. Combine this with WordSaladLyrics and MotorMouth singing, and you get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVjSycDJatc this]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ireland]]

[[/folder]]

* Music/{{Merzbow}}, a pioneering HarshNoise artist who takes SensoryAbuse, HellIsThatNoise, and TrueArtIsIncomprehensible to levels you probably never thought possible.

* The Rubberbandits certainly count: two Limerick lads who wear plastic bags over their faces to protect their identity and perform a strange combination of hip-hop, comedy and social commentary (occasionally), all while playing up their image (stupid eejit Limerick lads on yokes) as much as possible. Songs of theirs include "Spastic Hawk" (a children's book about a, well, sp*stic hawk—it's an insult in the UK and ROI), "I want to fight your father" (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), "Dad's best friend" (described as being a song about "the middle-aged man who babysat you once and didn't see anything wrong with letting you stay up to watch Film/{{Videodrome}}") , "Double Dropping Yokes with Eamon [=DeValera=]" and their most famous song, "Horse Outside", which tells the story of Blindboy's (the two members are Blindboy Boat Club and Mr. Chrome) travails at a wedding trying to attract a bridesmaid, his principal offer being based around him owning a horse, whereas the other three lads have Mitsubishis, Hondas or Subarus. Oh, and WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs doesn't apply: Blindboy called up a radio station (Newstalk) while claiming to be on "legal yips": at the time, the Irish government had, um, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally legalised drugs]], they say drug dealers used to sell their songs along with hash, the "yokes" in "Eamon [=DeValera=]" are ecstasy (yoke can also be roughly analogous to "thingamabob"), at least two of their earlier songs feature [[AssShove hiding drugs up your behind]] and one of their vines features a crack pipe. They also released an as Gaeilge version of "I want to fight your father", which not only was a decent translation but also rhymed, which is better than a lot of more "serious" bands can do. Their work is fairly provincial, especially their earlier stuff: decent chunks of it are incomprehensible to anyone with no knowledge of Irish slang, specifically Limerick, combined with a thick accent.

[[folder: Canada]]

[[folder: Japan]]

[[folder: Ireland]]
* The Rubberbandits certainly count: two Limerick lads who wear plastic bags over their faces to protect their identity and perform a strange combination of hip-hop, comedy and social commentary (occasionally), all while playing up their image (stupid eejit Limerick lads on yokes) as much as possible. Songs of theirs include "Spastic Hawk" (a children's book about a, well, sp*stic hawk—it's an insult in the UK and ROI), "I want to fight your father" (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), "Dad's best friend" (described as being a song about "the middle-aged man who babysat you once and didn't see anything wrong with letting you stay up to watch Film/{{Videodrome}}") , "Double Dropping Yokes with Eamon DeValera" and their most famous song, "Horse Outside", which tells the story of Blindboy's (the two members are Blindboy Boat Club and Mr. Chrome) travails at a wedding trying to attract a bridesmaid, his principal offer being based around him owning a horse, whereas the other three lads have Mitsubishis, Hondas or Subarus. Oh, and WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs doesn't apply: Blindboy called up a radio station (Newstalk) while claiming to be on "legal yips": at the time, the Irish government had, um, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally legalised drugs]], they say drug dealers used to sell their songs along with hash, the "yokes" in "Eamon DeValera" are ecstasy (yoke can also be roughly analogous to "thingamabob"), at least two of their earlier songs feature [[AssShove hiding drugs up your behind]] and one of their vines features a crack pipe. They also released an as Gaeilge version of "I want to fight your father", which not only was a decent translation but also rhymed, which is better than a lot of more "serious" bands can do. Their work is fairly provincial, especially their earlier stuff: decent chunks of it are incomprehensible to anyone with no knowledge of Irish slang, specifically Limerick, combined with a thick accent.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd1WvHiM24 Empalot]], the avant-garde side project created by the Duplantier brothers of the famed metal band Music/{{Gojira}} is a WTF (Weird Thing from France), through and through.

* FAR EAST MENTIONS MANNEQUINS, or {{Music/FEMM}} for short, are a pop duo that have been gaining some attention for combining Americanized musical stylings (complete with SurprisinglyGoodEnglish lyrics) and a concept only the Japanese could come up with: two animated mannequins released by a secret organization for the purpose of seeking out other mannequins with the potential for sentience, ultimately aiming for liberation from humans and world domination. Their most popular video on Website/YouTube, the bluntly titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNtuAvGvRo8 "Fxxk Boyz Get Money"]], features the two mannequins clad in ElegantGothicLolita twerking robotically to a continuous stream of profanity.

Back to [[WidgetSeries main]].

* Music/NeutralMilkHotel - [=WHATs=], but they're not humorous.
* Music/{{Devo}} itself qualifies as a WAT, with a devolved monkey boy as a mascot, his father, General Boy, ''Recombo DNA''.

* The New York Dolls crossed glam into cross-dressing.

* Music/{{Polysics}}, a Music/{{Devo}}-inspired WJT tha mixes equal parts new wave, electronica, and CrazyIsCool.

* The Australian "little bands" scene of the late '70s and early '80s is a STANZA among [=STANZAs=].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd1WvHiM24 Empalot]], the avant-garde side project created by the Duplantier brothers of the famed metal band Music/{{Gojira}} is a WTF, through and through.

* Music/{{Can}} was a PEGS band. The core of the band were classical and jazz musicians, some of whom were students of Karleinz Stockhausen. They sounded pretty much like you'd expect jazz and experimental musicians who played rock and roll to.

* The Rubberbandits certainly count: two Limerick lads who wear plastic bags over their faces to protect their identity and perform a strange combination of hip-hop, comedy and social commentary (occasionally), all while playing up their image (stupid eejit Limerick lads on yokes) as much as possible. Songs of theirs include "Spastic Hawk" (a children's book about a, well, sp*stic hawk—it's an insult in the UK and ROI), "I want to fight your father" (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), "Dad's best friend" (described as being a song about "the middle-aged man who babysat you once and didn't see anything wrong with letting you stay up to watch Film/{{Videodrome}}") , "Double Dropping Yokes with Eamon DeValera" and their most famous song, "Horse Outside", which tells the story of Blindboy's (the two members are Blindboy Boat Club and Mr. Chrome) travails at a wedding trying to attract a bridesmaid, his principal offer being based around him owning a horse, whereas the other three lads have Mitsubishis, Hondas or Subarus. Oh, and WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs doesn't apply: Blindboy called up a radio show (Newstalk) while claiming to be on "legal yips": at the time, the Irish government had, um, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally legalised drugs]], they say drug dealers used to sell their songs along with hash, the "yokes" in "Eamon DeValera" are ecstasy (yoke can also be roughly analogous to "thingamabob"), at least two of their earlier songs feature [[AssShove hiding drugs up your behind]] and one of their vines features a crack pipe. They also released an as Gaeilge version of "I want to fight your father", which not only was a decent translation but also rhymed, which is better than a lot of more "serious" bands can do. Their work is fairly provincial, especially their earlier stuff: decent chunks of it are incomprehensible to anyone with no knowledge of Irish slang, specifically Limerick, combined with a thick accent.

* Music/{{Suicide}} were formed by an organist and a performance artist in 1970 as a kind of free jazz outfit, and were probably the first band to self-identify as "punk". The New York duo's music was so weird and abrasive that no studio would touch them until 1977.
--> Vaguely Interesting Trivia Time: The Boss threatened to walk off his label unless they agreed to sign Suicide, which became their first contract. Aside from aforementioned live cover, several songs show a clear influence, most notably State Trooper from Nebraska.

* Music/FaithNoMore. Their music is very weird. The weirdest project is Music/MrBungle, a band that sometimes changing genres several times within a song.

* With a heavy focus on critiquing American culture, the music of Music/MarilynManson is definitely harder to understand if you aren't from America, especially the album ''Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley of Death)''. A major focus of the entire era was American high school culture, as it was heavily influenced by the Columbine Massacre. To a foreigner, a video for a song called "The Fight Song" being a game of American football in the rain between goths and jocks might not make as much sense as to an American, where high school football is not just a thing, but a huge thing. Songs like "Get Your Gunn", which deal with extremely American controversies (the song in question being inspired by Manson's reaction to the irony of people murdering others in the name of being pro-life, and the title coming from Dr. David Gunn, who was murdered for performing abortions) and albums like ''Mechanical Animals'', which are heavily rooted in the celebrity culture of Hollywood are a lot harder for someone to understand if they don't have a connection to America. The crossdressing, makeup and androgyny being controversial is another thing some cultures, like Japan (ironically enough, considering the trope) don't really get. Marilyn Manson's artwork is also extremely weird, being a mix of surrealism and absinthe, and a part of what he calls the "Celebritarian art movement", a parody of America's celebrity-worship culture. There's a reason the Nachtkabarett exists.

* VisualKei, an entire musical movement where NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly is cranked up and musicians dress up in [[CostumePorn highly extravagant]] costumes that cause much ViewerGenderConfusion.

* {{Music/Cardiacs}} are a British band who take NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly to an extreme by combining the seemingly polar-opposite genres of PunkRock and ProgressiveRock, a blend often referred to as [[FanNickname "pronk"]]. Combine this with WordSaladLyrics and MotorMouth singing, and you get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVjSycDJatc this]].

* [[https://calvinwilkerson.bandcamp.com/ Calvin]] [[https://calvinwilkerson4.bandcamp.com/ Wilkerson]]. [[ShoutOut Shout-outs]] to cartoons, EpicRocking, and barely any lyrics.

* [[https://calvinwilkerson.bandcamp.com/ Calvin]] [[calvinwilkerson4.bandcamp.com Wilkerson]]. [[ShoutOut Shout-outs]] to cartoons, EpicRocking, and barely any lyrics.

* Every Christmas/New Year holiday break, New Zealand's national public radio station RNZ goes "mufti day" and hosts the "[[http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/matineeidle Matinee Idle]]" radio show, where SoBadItsGood, campy and novelty music is played back for laughs.

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic is a Weird American Thing, by virtue of parodying stuff Americans would be familiar with. [[WeirdAlEffect Or not]].

* Brazilian funk is pretty weird in itself (a WBF?) but is still a mostly authentic expression of life in the slums. Brazilian funk from Curitiba, on the other hand, takes everything weird in the genre, the openly sexual but silly-sounding lyrics, the repetitive samples and sound bites and the very liberal use of profanity and takes it UpToEleven it's PlayedForLaughs mostly.

* VisualKei, an entire musical movement where NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly is taken UpToEleven and musicians dress up in [[CostumePorn highly extravagant]] costumes that cause much ViewerGenderConfusion.

* Music/{{Polysics}}, a Music/{{Devo}}-inspired WJT tha mixes equal parts new wave, electronica, and CrazyAwesome.

* Another very early (pre-'77) "punk" group, Music/TalkingHeads, simply fit the WAT trope to a T...