Popular Music Studies: Alternative Rock

Week 4

US Alternative in the 90s

The ‘Seattle Sound’

• Grunge / Sub Pop

• Garage rock, Alternative Rock,

Hardcore, Heavy Metal

• Mudhoney

Nirvana

Nirvana

• Bleach (Sub Pop, 1989)

• $606.17

Nirvana

• ‘Nevermind marks the coming of age of alternative rock and the death of some cherished and deep-seated beliefs about authenticity, selling out, and the artistic purity of the rock & roll underground.’

• ‘The beginning of one era… and the end of another.’

Nirvana

• Nevermind (DGC, 1991)

• Initial $65,000 budget

In Bloom

He’s the one who likes all the pretty songs

And he likes to sing along

And he likes to shoot his gun

But he don’t know what it means

Nirvana

• In Utero (1993)

• Produced by

Steve Albini

• MTV Unplugged

in New York (1994)

Kurt Cobain

Grunge…

• Green River – Mother Love Bone – Pearl Jam

• Ten (1991) outsold Nevermind on initial release

• ‘…saddled with the same meaningless genre tag.’

• Large classic rock influence – little musical similarity to Nirvana?

Pearl Jam

• Vs (1993)

• Protracted battle with Ticketmaster

• Used the hype and then shunned mainstream interference to retain their creative control

• No Code (1996)

Soundgarden

• Formed 1984

• “Hunted Down” (Sub Pop, 1987)

• Ultramega OK (SST, 1988)

Soundgarden

Alice in Chains

Dirt (1992)

‘Girl’ bands in grunge

• L7

• Formed in 1985

• Started “Rock for Choice” (1991-2001)

• Bricks Are Heavy (1992)

‘Girl’ bands in grunge

• Hole (formed in 1989)

Riot Grrrl

• Named for a fanzine put out from 1991 by Allison Wolfe, Kathleen Hanna and other female musicians

• Frequently associated with grunge

• Bikini Kill (1990-97)

• Pussy Whipped (Kill Rock Stars, 1993)

• Sleater-Kinney

PJ Harvey

• Rid of Me (Island, 1993) produced by Steve Albini

• First solo album To Bring You My Love (1995) still highly US country, blues, folk influenced; produced by Flood.

• Success in both US and UK

Liz Phair

Rage Against the Machine

• Blended rock/metal with rap

• Rage Against the Machine (Epic, 1992)

• Politically charged music and agenda

• Addressing of authenticity…?

The Aftermath of Grunge…

• Dave Grohl formed Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain’s death

• Colour and the Shape (1997)

• Some bands, like Pavement, continued to actively avoid the mainstream.

Smashing Pumpkins

• The standout alternative rock band of the 1990s, after Nirvana

• Began with numerous UK influences –

goth rock, shoegaze, psychedlia

• Soon incorporated hard rock, metal, grunge

Smashing Pumpkins

• Siamese Dream (1992)

• Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)

Punk revival

Weird Rock

• A line from Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa

• Through the Minutemen, Butthole Surfers, etc…

• Primus