No Wave

No wave was a predominantly New York-based genre of music that was a precursor to noise rock; it was chiefly a scene in NYC, particularly based around SoHo, but there were no wave bands from other areas. It was named "no wave" after Brian Eno's compilation of the sound in the album "No Wave New York". The express artist purpose of the movement was to challenge and rebel against the rising prevalence and trends of new wave music.
Generally, Suicide's self-titled LP is considered the first no wave album; early records by the bands Swans and Sonic Youth are considered the height of no wave, released in the early-to-mid 80s. Between '77 and '83 is when the scene is typically considered to have existed, and the sound of the genre varies depending on when one analyzes it.
Early (late 70s) no wave is very sparse, cold, and bleak synth-dominated music, with the synthesizers deliberately creating atonal or uneasy sounds as a sort of "opposite" reflection of new wave's hyper-catchiness. By the time the 80s rolled around, a lot of no wave being played was guitar-and-rock oriented, presenting very angular, detuned riffs as the defining quality of the music. It would typically be played on blown out speakers or with a lot of distortion to make it as abrasive as possible, as marketability was antithetical to the movement's artistic core. Lots of repetition was also used which gave the music a hypnotic, almost "cultish" feel. Thus, this gave rise to the traditions later seen in the noise rock of the late 80s.
Most notably, none other than Kurt Cobain was a fan of the no wave genre, particularly Swans' first album "Filth" (and of course Sonic Youth's early releases and more traditionally "alt rock" albums); one can hear this influence in the sound of Nirvana and, to a lesser extent, the rest of grunge.
In addition to noise rock, no wave phased into industrial music as well, as especially evidenced in the early sound typified by Suicide. Industrial, however, has its roots in Britain, particularly in Bristol, which sets it apart from no wave categorically.