Fringe Rock is a style of
music that incorporates many different classic genres of Rock but does not fit neatly into any established micro-genre. It is Rock
music that sits on the edge of commercial rock, hence on the "fringe" of what is currently mainstream.
The term can
trace its roots back to the 1970s and the British TV program "The Old Grey Whistle Test" but it is not known if it was coined by "Whispering" Bob Harris or if it originated elsewhere. The Fringe Rock movement saw a resurgence in the
UK in the 1990s, with bands such as Ether and Janus Stark, and in the USA with bands such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre &
CAKE. Through the 2000s the Fringe Rock baton was carried by bands such as The Warlocks, Singapore Sling and The Dolly
Rocker Movement.
The 2020s have seen renewed interest in the Fringe Rock scene with independent bands and artists rejecting the mainstream
sound. Modern examples of Fringe Rock include Yard Act, DEADLETTER, Dazzle Rebel, Deep
Tan, The Dirty English and Forty Feet Tall.