Why, if one thing as a guitar riff may be so pleasing, will we make what’s generally known as the “stank face” in response to listening to one thing so initially impactful and spectacular? As it seems, on prime of the numerous theories in regards to the historical past of the “stank face,” there’s additionally a little bit of science behind it.

Recently, Guitar World spoke to British music educational Milton Mermikides of their try to search out various factors of experience as regards to the guitar “stank face” and ended up discovering there may be some science to it.

Why Do We Respond With “Stank Face” to Certain Music?

We’ve all been there, listening to music when all of a sudden an surprising word catches us off guard, heightening our senses and inflicting a bodily response, generally within the type of a nasty facial features whereas making an attempt to understand what we simply heard.

“‘Stank face’ is perhaps just a modern term for a long-documented musical experience which falls somewhere between deep visceral pleasure and a sort of physical engagement, irritation or even repulsion – an ecstatic ‘pleasurable pain,” defined Mermikides.

“It relies on music’s unique ability to trigger a host of physical and emotional responses in the listener. These include our response to dissonance, such as the roughness of a sound – a scrunchy chord, an angular melody or a syncopated rhythm,” he continued.

“When coupled with the dopamine release from satisfying predictions and bodily engagement, these can produce ‘cross-modal’ responses. It’s as if the music is so rich, flavorsome and satisfying it bleeds into our other senses. Not only do we hear it, we can almost taste and smell it – hence the characteristic facial and bodily responses,” Mermikides concluded.

READ MORE: 13 of the Most Bizarre Guitars of All-Time

What Else We Learned About “Stank Face”

The Guitar World article goes further in depth on the “stank face,” with the guitarists of Periphery revealing that they use it as a non-verbal form of communication when playing off of each other. It can also be a show of appreciation, and YouTube star Nik Nocturnal explained that the heaviness causing a “stank face” isn’t always relegated to the guitar, with other instrumentation playing into the presentation that catches the listener’s attention.