Grunge Music Guide: 4 Characteristics of Grunge Music

Grunge music was a subgenre of hard rock and alternative music that rose to worldwide popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Grunge was born out of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, notably Seattle, Washington. Local bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam attracted a loyal following with a hard-driving sound that mixed the punishing volume of heavy metal with the lyrical angst and anger of hardcore punk.

Word of mouth about the “Seattle sound” attracted the attention of the press, especially in the United Kingdom, which, in turn, attracted the American record industry, which was hungry for fresh rock acts. By the early ’90s, many of the grunge scene’s most popular acts, including Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees, had been signed to major record labels. The huge commercial success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the first single from Nirvana’s major-label debut album, Nevermind, generated tremendous interest in the Seattle scene and a frantic search for a rock band that could replicate the grunge sound. This push gave rise to new acts, like Stone Temple Pilots, Candlebox, and Bush, and spotlighted established groups like Sonic Youth.

Ultimately, grunge proved short-lived; The death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in 1994, and the rise of movements like Britpop rang down the curtain on the grunge scene. Some acts, like Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters (led by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl), continued to make and record music into the new millennium.

Grunge music pulled from several different musical influences, from punk to glam rock. Pacific Northwest had its share of edgy, homegrown rockers, including the ’60s garage-rock pioneers the Sonics, ’80s post-punk favorites like the U-Men, and the sonically devastating Melvins, which all influenced the formation of the subgenre.

Grunge also drew on early metal bands like Black Sabbath, and ’70s punk forerunners like the Stooges, glam rock vets like the New York Dolls, and classic rock icons like Neil Young, who later collaborated with Pearl Jam. The punk rock and alternative music scenes of the 1980s and early ’90s also wielded enormous influence over the grunge scenes, especially hardcore punk acts like Black Flag and the first wave of alternative rock groups, which included the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.

Several distinct characteristics define the grunge music aesthetic, including:

1. 1. Guitar sludge. Heavy distortion and thunderous power chord riffs defined the electric guitar component of grunge, which was described as dirty or sludgy. This sound helped give rise to the term “grunge,” which is frequently credited to Mudhoney vocalist Mark Arm and Sub Pop Records co-founder Bruce Pavitt. Grunge guitarists like Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil steered clear of guitar solos and relied on distortion pedals and powerful amplifiers to deliver their signature sound.
2. 2. Minimal drum kits. Grunge bands steered clear of the elaborate percussion rigs favored by ’80s rock bands and utilized minimal drum kits that required skill and tremendous power to deliver the overwhelming grunge beat. Drummers like Dave Grohl and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden used four- and six-piece drum kits during the grunge years.
3. 3. Intense vocals. Kurt Cobain’s vocal style—a slurred, growling delivery that could rise to a stunning bellow—largely defined grunge vocals and was echoed in varying degrees by singers like Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love of Hole, and Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Staley. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell added a muscular vibrato to the sound.
4. 4. Dark lyrics. Grunge lyrics frequently hinged on dark topics—despair, disillusionment, hopelessness, and self-loathing. There could be ironic detachment to the lyrics, like in Mudhoney’s frantic “Touch Me I’m Sick.” Still, grunge tended to reflect the feelings of its fanbase—teens and twentysomethings dismayed by the state of the world and the challenges of creating meaningful change.

Grunge music influenced culture in ways that extended beyond music, including:

• Fashion. Grunge clothing reflected the lower- to middle-class backgrounds of its performers and listeners. The look could be seen daily on the streets of Seattle: plaid flannel shirts and ripped jeans culled from area thrift stores. Female rockers like Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland also helped popularize a look that mixed ’50s girls fashion, like babydoll dresses, with ’70s glam touches like slips as overgarments. Mainstream designers adopted grunge fashion to much critical derision.
• Literature. The American grunge scene influenced a subgenre of Australian fiction in the 1990s that came to be known as grunge lit. Like the music, grunge lit focused on disenfranchised young people looking for and often failing to find meaning in their everyday lives. Poverty, drugs, and nihilism were often touchstones for novels like Praise by Andrew McGahan, The River Ophelia by Justine Etler, and Eric Dando’s Snail.
• Graphic design. As seen on album covers and concert flyers, grunge rock graphics drew heavily on the Xerox aesthetics of the ’70s and ’80s punk. Blurred photos, hand-drawn iconography, and mismatched font types created a look that suggested a gritty, handmade realism. The grunge graphic design quickly rose from underground zines to mainstream publications and advertising.
• Hot button topics. Like hip-hop, grunge forged a connection to music like folk and punk by focusing on socially conscious subjects. Feminism and liberalism were espoused by grunge bands, which also brought to the forefront many challenges faced by its listeners, including substance abuse, alienation, and homelessness.

Several notable grunge albums helped define its sound, including:

1. 1. Come On Down by Green River. Considered the first grunge album by rock music historians, the 1985 EP by Green River helped set the tone for grunge with its rough mix of metal and sludgy post-punk. The band included members of several influential grunge groups, including Mark Arm and Steve Turner of Mudhoney and Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam.
2. 2. Deep Six by Various Artists. Issued by C/Z Records in 1986, this six-song EP helped to foretell the direction of grunge as it moved away from punk and into slower, darker waters. The compilation included early songs by Mudhoney, Soundgarden, The Melvins, and grunge pioneers Malfunkshun, whose singer, Andrew Wood, would form another early grunge act, Mother Love Bone, with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam.
3. 3. Facelift by Alice in Chains. The first grunge band to sign with a major record label, Alice in Chains paved the way for grunge with the success of the unnerving single “Man in the Box,” which spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1991. Facelift was also the first grunge album to be certified gold for selling over 500,000 copies.
4. 4. Nevermind by Nirvana. For many listeners, Nirvana’s Nevermind epitomized the grunge scene. Its phenomenal success, fueled by the haunting “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” bumped Michael Jackson’s Dangerous from the top spot on the Billboard charts in 1992, and for a brief period, suggested a sea change in popular music.
5. 5. Temple of the Dog by Temple of the Dog. With grunge now firmly in place, two of its most successful proponents—Pearl Jam and Soundgarden—united as Temple of the Dog to pay tribute to Mother Love Bone’s Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose in 1991. The album, featuring the plaintive “Hunger Strike,” reached the Top 10 on the Billboard albums chart.

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