Sunday Morning Playlist: Grunge

The emergence of grunge at the start of the 1990's was the culmination of a decade plus of indie music, and also was a major revitalization of rock as a viable commercial proposition. Simply put, grunge represents what in the 70's was unthinkable; a merging of heavy metal and punk.

Its sound was muddy and murky, in the tradition of the muddy, murky records of the proto-punk era; its touchstones were the enormous riffs of Black Sabbath coupled with the frenetic sloppiness of the Stooges. It wasn't a metal scene, despite the obvious influences; grunge had more to do with punk, sharing (in the early days) indie label roots and a DIY ethic. Yet it wasn't a punk scene either; in the traditional sense. It was something new; and, for a brief time, became huger than anything.

     

The indie roots that most of these bands shared was one indie label in particular: Sub Pop Records. Sub Pop doubled as distributor of the early albums of nearly all the grunge bands of note, and also an important nexus between these bands and their audience. Among the bands that released material through Sub Pop were: Nirvana, Green River, L7, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and many other lesser known ones.

Grunge referred not just to the music, but to the youth culture scene around it, not just in Seattle, but also in Olympia, Portland, and Pacific Northwest college towns. At its height, it was the largest and most vibrant west coast scene since the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60's. It represented an attitude, which was fiercely independant as a culture; it even turned the flannel shirt into a hot item for a while, although in most cases the flannel was merely a reflection of the chilly climate.

     

If one were to cast a look back to its earliest forefathers, one might be tempted to go all the way back to the 60's; locally famous Pacific Nothwest bands such as the Sonics and the Wailers were hyper-fuzzed garage bands who recorded for local labels.

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