Verlaine and Lloyd's guitar parts on the album are interplayed around the rhythm section's drum hits and basslines. Their dual playing draws on 1960s rock and avant-garde jazz styles, abandoning the layered power chords of contemporary punk rock in favor of melodic lines and counter-melodies. Verlaine's guitar establishes the song's rhythmic phrase, against which Lloyd is heard playing dissonant melodies. Lloyd had learned to notate his solos by the time they recorded "Marquee Moon", allowing him to develop his solo for a song from introduction to variation and resolution. Some songs have the two guitarists trading rhythmic and melodic lines several times while producing tension. "There weren't many bands where the two guitars played rhythm and melody back and forth, like a jigsaw puzzle", Lloyd said.