My thought for the week: I’m certain I understand the why of grunge. There was a time when America found a sensitive, howling young man armed with nothing more than dozens of guitar overdubs irresistible. Sometimes I puzzle over the who of grunge. Not The Pixies or Dinosaur Jr. Too East Coast arty and weird for really broad mainstream consumption. Not Soundgarden or Melvins. Too metal. Not Pearl Jam. Just a little bit soft. But why not Buffalo Tom? Birdbrain is every bit the rocker that Smells Like Teen Spirit is. And I think Buffalo Tom sounds more like “REM with a fuzzbox” than Nirvana ever did, which was Steve Albini’s snide remark about the latter. REM with a fuzzbox always struck me as a recipe for success. Maybe Kurt Cobain’s model good looks and David Geffen’s megawatt showbiz power is the answer.
i think i had Birdbrain, or maybe a roommate did. but i got to it after Nevermind.
yeah, it can’t be denied that Cobain was definitely a charismatic front man. Eddie Vedder, too. it always helps.
my theory is that Nevermind came out at the exactly the right time.
all those bands you mentioned, plus Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins, Flaming Lips, Janes, RHCP, Primus, etc. had been doing OK, but had all been just shy of mainstream success in the year or two before Nevermind. so there was a market out there, but it wasn’t quite big enough yet. plus, hair metal was still lingering. but then Nevermind took a lot of those sounds, condensed them, polished them and presented them in a way that was appealing to the wider public but still felt authentically … dangerous. it was slick enough for radio, but still cool enough for the indie kids, and a bigger group of indie kids than those other bands had individually. plus, Pearl Jam’s 10 came out at the same time, and its classic-rock vibe picked up a slightly different crowd. then those two records bolstered each other (and gave the appearance of a new Seattle-based scene, which excited the press).
Jewish Steel
I think this is exactly right. The zeitgeist is always driving the bus. At least it was back when there was big waves of popular music.
When I posted this on FB a lot of folks wanted to argue that is was Nirvana’s innate greatness that made them rise like cream to the top. I think they are great too, but as a counter example I would point to my record collection which also has a lot of great bands that did not kick off a whole “sound.” I’ll bet you could name 20 albums off the top of your head that are better than Nevermind. That album just happened to be *exactly* what everyone was ready to hear in September of 91.
IMO, Butch Vig deserves a ton of credit for Nevermind. Bleach was so raw and heavy it’s almost a Melvins tribute. and In Utero had almost none of Nevermind’s hooks. Vig knew how to turn Cobain’s tunes into catchy songs – that’s not what Albini does.
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my first band was just months old when Nevermind came out and one of the first songs we learned was Smells Like.
this isn’t the first time we played it in front of people – i have a recording of that and it’s a terrible mess. but this it pretty early, January 1992. recorded at a show in our apartment. it’s also a terrible mess.
the first couple of times we played it nobody knew it. but within a month, everybody knew that song. and i was surprised because i didn’t expect a ‘grunge’ band would get popular enough for anyone besides us record nerds to know it.
we also learned Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick” and their version of Sonic Youth’s “Halloween” at the same time. almost nobody knew those songs
I think Smells is a pretty glorious mess. Sounds like everyone is having a blast. Even if the guitarist and the rhythm section don’t agree on what the starting tempo should be. :D
My thought for the week: I’m certain I understand the why of grunge. There was a time when America found a sensitive, howling young man armed with nothing more than dozens of guitar overdubs irresistible. Sometimes I puzzle over the who of grunge. Not The Pixies or Dinosaur Jr. Too East Coast arty and weird for really broad mainstream consumption. Not Soundgarden or Melvins. Too metal. Not Pearl Jam. Just a little bit soft. But why not Buffalo Tom? Birdbrain is every bit the rocker that Smells Like Teen Spirit is. And I think Buffalo Tom sounds more like “REM with a fuzzbox” than Nirvana ever did, which was Steve Albini’s snide remark about the latter. REM with a fuzzbox always struck me as a recipe for success. Maybe Kurt Cobain’s model good looks and David Geffen’s megawatt showbiz power is the answer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Tgb-H0CcY
good question.
i think i had Birdbrain, or maybe a roommate did. but i got to it after Nevermind.
yeah, it can’t be denied that Cobain was definitely a charismatic front man. Eddie Vedder, too. it always helps.
my theory is that Nevermind came out at the exactly the right time.
all those bands you mentioned, plus Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins, Flaming Lips, Janes, RHCP, Primus, etc. had been doing OK, but had all been just shy of mainstream success in the year or two before Nevermind. so there was a market out there, but it wasn’t quite big enough yet. plus, hair metal was still lingering. but then Nevermind took a lot of those sounds, condensed them, polished them and presented them in a way that was appealing to the wider public but still felt authentically … dangerous. it was slick enough for radio, but still cool enough for the indie kids, and a bigger group of indie kids than those other bands had individually. plus, Pearl Jam’s 10 came out at the same time, and its classic-rock vibe picked up a slightly different crowd. then those two records bolstered each other (and gave the appearance of a new Seattle-based scene, which excited the press).
I think this is exactly right. The zeitgeist is always driving the bus. At least it was back when there was big waves of popular music.
When I posted this on FB a lot of folks wanted to argue that is was Nirvana’s innate greatness that made them rise like cream to the top. I think they are great too, but as a counter example I would point to my record collection which also has a lot of great bands that did not kick off a whole “sound.” I’ll bet you could name 20 albums off the top of your head that are better than Nevermind. That album just happened to be *exactly* what everyone was ready to hear in September of 91.
IMO, Butch Vig deserves a ton of credit for Nevermind. Bleach was so raw and heavy it’s almost a Melvins tribute. and In Utero had almost none of Nevermind’s hooks. Vig knew how to turn Cobain’s tunes into catchy songs – that’s not what Albini does.
—
my first band was just months old when Nevermind came out and one of the first songs we learned was Smells Like.
this isn’t the first time we played it in front of people – i have a recording of that and it’s a terrible mess. but this it pretty early, January 1992. recorded at a show in our apartment. it’s also a terrible mess.
Smells Like, live.
the first couple of times we played it nobody knew it. but within a month, everybody knew that song. and i was surprised because i didn’t expect a ‘grunge’ band would get popular enough for anyone besides us record nerds to know it.
we also learned Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick” and their version of Sonic Youth’s “Halloween” at the same time. almost nobody knew those songs
Touch Me, live.
ah, youth
I think Smells is a pretty glorious mess. Sounds like everyone is having a blast. Even if the guitarist and the rhythm section don’t agree on what the starting tempo should be. :D
Touch Me sounds like Mudhoney themselves.
it should always be what the person who starts it says it is! nobody ever believes me. :(
I liked your tempo better. A little more measured and confident.