I dunno I'd say the Melvins are better than any of 'em, Nirvana included (I can't listen to Nirvana anymore). The first couple Mudhoney albums are fun but totally juvenile, I would recommend them if you are between the ages of 12 and 21.
― Pre-Beatles Yoko Ono (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:18 (fifteen years ago) link
sort of funny, i really have no knowledge of the original "grunge" bands -- Mudhoney, Green River, early Soundgarden, Melvins, etc. Any of it worth my time?
Yes, and none of it sounds like Pearl Jam , Alice In Chains(who were both great) or the post-grunge bands (who weren't)
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:19 (fifteen years ago) link
The first couple Mudhoney albums are fun but totally juvenile, I would recommend them if you are between the ages of 12 and 21.
fuck that, im 36 and still listen to Mudhoney. Funnily enough they are a band who make better cohesive albums in the last 10 years than they did back then.Melvins last 2 albums have been awesome too.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:21 (fifteen years ago) link
dude you NEED Superfuzzbigmuff by Mudhoney...it doesn't really sound like "grunge" how you probably think, more like super mean rabid garage rock
― Lord Iffy Boatrace (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:22 (fifteen years ago) link
heh, yeah I've heard Nirvana ... would probably like Mudhoney, I like the stuff I've heard anyway -- Stooges-y stomping stuff? dunno, I think the main problem I have with most so-called grunge is the vocals. Just a lot of bad singing going on there.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:23 (fifteen years ago) link
coffin break was pretty rad, but i dunno if they were totally grunge
― Lord Iffy Boatrace (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:24 (fifteen years ago) link
the deluxe reissue of superfuzzbigmuff is essential.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:24 (fifteen years ago) link
However, Flowers says that he thinks his band is now making American music "a lot more playful and brighter"
delusions of etc
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:25 (fifteen years ago) link
I've been googling Killers lyrics to refute Branden Flowers lies.
― james k polk, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:27 (fifteen years ago) link
i honestly can't listen to nirvana with anything approaching perspective. i don't think i really like them but it's just colored by way too many other things to tell.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:28 (fifteen years ago) link
I like the stuff I've heard anyway -- Stooges-y stomping stuff? dunno, I think the main problem I have with most so-called grunge is the vocals. Just a lot of bad singing going on there.
I got off the bus after their major label debut but yeah Stooges are the main reference point and I've always liked Mark Arm's voice. He doesn't do the ass-clenched warbling Eddie Vedder thing.
― Pre-Beatles Yoko Ono (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:29 (fifteen years ago) link
ha yeah, the ass-clenched warbling Eddie Vedder thing -- that's the big problem. I can remember hearing Pearl Jam when I was a kid and thinking "man i just don't relate to that at all!" obviously some people did/do.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:31 (fifteen years ago) link
I really liked Eddie Vedders voice, but when all those other bands took the template I can see why it became annoying, but when PJ first hit the singing style was something fresh to many people.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link
I always hated it
― Pre-Beatles Yoko Ono (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link
I was just listening to the royal trux's pound for pound a few mins ago
― cool app (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:36 (fifteen years ago) link
every listen to it
argh I meant to type everyone listen to it
Melvins Live >>>>>>>> Melvins on record >>> Mudhoney > Nirvana >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> any other band that got called grunge
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:38 (fifteen years ago) link
while we're on the grunge kick, i never, ever, ever understood why Neil Young got the "godfather of grunge" tag. Are there any grunge bands that actually sound like Neil Young? Even remotely? I know he toured with a lot of them (saw STP open for him in 1993, lol) and did the record with pearl jam but i'll be danged if i hear much Neil Young in those bands. was it just the flannel?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:39 (fifteen years ago) link
not just flannel, but also volume and sloppiness being used as virtues. but I think it was largely an association thing.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:42 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah there aren't very many clear similarities (unless we bring Dinosaur Jr into the picture, but they predate grunge "movement" by a bit)
― Pre-Beatles Yoko Ono (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:44 (fifteen years ago) link
Plus Ragged Glory came out around then and Sonic Youth opened for him and he was in vogue and got name dropped a lot.
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:44 (fifteen years ago) link
right -- i guess there was a period pre-nirvana where grunge could mean dino jr and sonic youth. though honestly, "grunge" seems like the best term to describe Dino Jr, moreso than a lot of grunge bands.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Actually pre-Nirvana grunge just meant 7 or 8 Seattle area bands. It never meant Sonic Youth and Dinosaur unless journos were being lax.
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:47 (fifteen years ago) link
Agree that it's easy to imagine "grunge" referring to Dinosaur though. Mascis just seems kind of grungy.
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Vedder and his ilk are so fun to sing along to loudly with your friends. "eeeewaa flerrrrr, come arwahr like feeeevin flaaaaawwrrr".
― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Mascis' vocal whine also kinda similar to Neil
― Pre-Beatles Yoko Ono (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link
oh yeah totally -- dino jr and neil comparisons are valid!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:52 (fifteen years ago) link
and re: lazy journos calling non-grunge bands grunge, seems like there was maybe a lot of this in the UK?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 20:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Late 80s at WRCT, we used the adjective "grungy" a lot to describe Touch & Go type stuff, and eventually early Sub Pop. Killdozer, Drunks with Guns, Volcano Suns even. Don't remember it being pegged as a genre until after the NME thing in 1989 about Seattle.
― bendy, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:01 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah dinosaur jr, sebadoh,belly, sugar, helmet, babes in toyland even the lemonheads got called grunge.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 21:37 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah i feel like i read some old article from the UK referring to "American grunge group Galaxie 500" ...
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 22:02 (fifteen years ago) link
dino jr kinda was grunge though IMO
― Lord Iffy Boatrace (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 22:09 (fifteen years ago) link
yea i agree
― mark cl, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 22:23 (fifteen years ago) link
i guess there was a period pre-nirvana where grunge could mean dino jr and sonic youth
SY and Dino Jr. had legitimate ties to the grunge scene...not the least of these being Nirvana themselves, who opened for Sonic Youth before they broke big...meanwhile J Masics was a serious contender to replace Chad Channing before they settled on Dave Grohl...
― jagged-electronically mäandernden underbody (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 23:31 (fifteen years ago) link
also SY's split 7" with Green River, and Dino Jr.'s whole Dio-meets-the-Cure (w/ special guest, you guessed it, Neil Young) aesthetic...
― jagged-electronically mäandernden underbody (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 23:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Don't remember it being pegged as a genre until after the NME thing in 1989 about Seattle.
WTF? Grunge was hyped in the NME???
― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 23:48 (fifteen years ago) link
that's the first place it was hyped! wasn't sub pop's whole marketing plan designed to sell a regional scene to the UK?
― tylerw, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:03 (fifteen years ago) link
J Masics was a serious contender to replace Chad Channing before they settled on Dave Grohl...
I'm surprised that Masics -- who was a fairly big indie-star at the time, I'd guess -- would try to join Nirvana, which hadn't yet broken big (since Grohl was the drummer on Nevermind).
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:05 (fifteen years ago) link
i'd heard that bit about mascis/nirvana too -- who knows how serious J was about that though?
― tylerw, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:06 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm imagining some oakland impresario flying everett true over to introduce krumping or hyphy or whatever it's called.
re: jmascis what is the deal with him supposedly dating uma thurman at the time?
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Why would the NME give anything even close to a shit about obscure rock music half a world away that even its own home country didn't want anything to do with?
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:13 (fifteen years ago) link
get a clue
― lorax enforcement officer (electricsound), Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:15 (fifteen years ago) link
This was also my experience - though not sure about the NME thing. I was living in Houston at the time, and pretty much any gross, ugly, obnoxious, Stooges influenced rock group was described as grunge. Local stuff like Sugarshack I spent most of the early 90s trying to convince people that PJ and STP weren't real 'grunge' and didn't even make any sense as a description of whatever Pearl Jam was.
― slugbaiting (rockapads), Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:16 (fifteen years ago) link
the Sugar shack mention was supposed to be backspaced over. nobody wants to see me reminisce about extinct local groups. :/
― slugbaiting (rockapads), Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:17 (fifteen years ago) link
OK I'm assuming this hype didn't amount to much, since there are no grunge records in NME's 1989 EOY list.
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:18 (fifteen years ago) link
Oops, wrong link!
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:21 (fifteen years ago) link
x-post SY also had a Mudhoney split 10" where the bands covered each other's songs.
― President Keyes, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:24 (fifteen years ago) link
But I suppose so did Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
― President Keyes, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:25 (fifteen years ago) link
It was actually Everett True covering Seattle bands for Melody Maker that people are referring to I think, which was in 1989.
― Mark, Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:30 (fifteen years ago) link