ALIVE – Part One: The Sucker Punch

Back in 1991, it sure did feel like 3 or 4 Seattle bands overtook the entire genre of Hair Metal in a very short period of time. The way I see it, if you were around back then like I was, closer to the truth is the shift seems more of a gradual, then all-of-a-sudden event.

The great state of Washington produces The Melvins, arguably one of the earliest of the grunge bands that, although influenced by the likes of Sabbath and Zeppelin, move into relatively uncharted territory by mixing it all up with punk, rock, and splashes of metal flavoring. Soundgarden and Green River coalesce around 1984, with the Screaming Trees right behind them. Seattle watering holes like The Showbox, The Off-Ramp, The Crocodile, and others begin regularly presenting their live shows. Along with the birth of the Seattle-based label Sub Pop, the “Deep Six” compilation from C/Z released in 1986 (including Andrew Wood’s Malfunkshun), introduces areas outside of Seattle to its unique sonic atmosphere, very much the same way that the “Metal Massacre” compilation from Brian Slagel floated the Metal gospel around the states. 

An so it begins, as there become pockets of groundswell in grunge/alternative music early on. Its cross-pollination begins to widen across the U.S. landscape a couple of years prior to 1991. Green River’s “Rehab Doll” is released in 1988, as is Napalm Beach’s “Liquid Love”. Soundgarden’s “Ultra Mega OK” comes out in 1988, “Louder than Love” busts out in 1989. As with any scene, musicians morph between bands. Green River splits into Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone.

In 1989 Mother Love Bone’s “Shine” arrives. Nirvana’s “Bleach” appears. The Melvins “Ozma” is released in ’89, along with Mudhoney’s eponymous debut. The Screaming Trees’ “Buzz Factory” also breaks in 1989, among a few others.  Alternative bands stick a big hand in this wave, as the Stone Roses, Faith No More, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jesus and Mary Chain and more all released seminal alternative albums in 1989. 1990 brought up Alice in Chains’ brooding “Facelift”, Grunttruck’s “Inside Yours”, as well as Jane’s Addiction’s rambunctious outing, “Ritual de lo Habitual”. 

Couple this simultaneously with the bankrupt barrel of hair metal bands in which some labels desperately scraped to the very bottom. Coming up behind the eight-ball looking for the next Motley Crüe or Poison, some A&R reps get antsy. An insane signing frenzy occurs in which a fair amount of hair bands are signed to record deals irrespective of their talent/musicianship. There is never a good ending to this trajectory. Finding the next big thing just didn’t happen. 

Hair Metal (and Heavy Metal in general) had seen better days only a few years earlier when it seemed like just about everybody and their mother was into it. There was a huge peak from 1985 to 1987, followed by an over-saturation. Then, a general decline in interest sent the genre plunging into a downward spiral circa 1988-89 assisted by the relentless vomit of indistinguishable music videos, one more painful than the next. Seattle is poised to strike.

As Grunge, Alternative, (and Death/Thrash/Hardcore to a slightly slower-moving extent) are on the rise, during the 90’s some very interesting hard rock bands caught in the middle at the time, are lost in the shuffle. Tyketto, Tall Stories, 21 Guns, and the like go quietly into the night. There is nothing they can really do about it.

Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, a waify, intense introverted misfit with a heart stitched together from mental stab wounds, possesses an incredible gift to express himself through his musical sensibility. Watching the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video now, it seems almost weak, albeit oddly genius – but back in 1991, “Nevermind” is an industrial-strength, glass-busting, noisy, new insolence that no one can ignore.

Refusing to be held back, enter the impudent Pearl Jam, who with purposeful random stomp around swinging unkempt hair wearing plaid shirts, cargo shorts and work boots – the very antithesis of Hair/Glam Metal – the middle finger complete with dirt under its fingernail. Eddie Vedder snarls, looking out from the corner of his eye, brimming with burn and angst. Jeff Ament’s fat, crawling bass seems to meddle with fault lines. Dave Krusen’s reverb-drenched, snare-snapping hits fire off into space and bring you back around as Stone Gossard and Mike McCready’s distorted, whirling, smart-ass chord cadences and their splattering leads carried in with a hint of a Hendrix accent swarm the air you breathe, and bristle with indifference. Pearl Jam means business. They tackle the downright serious results of the deception of a young boy and his mother’s misdirected designs right out the gate, juxtaposed with the nearly decade long Hair Metal eye-roll of “She’s my cherry pie, cool drink-a water, sweet surprise”… 

“Get the fuck outta here” they demand.

…If “Never mind” is the distraction, then “Alive” is the sucker-punch.

Epilogue: The incoherent babbling contained herein is the way I see things as I lived through them.

Welcome to the the Universe According to DJ Alex Kayne.

Coming Up Next Time: Soundgarden, and AIC plant their flags, Thrash Metal stage-dives into the mix, Brooklyn turns green, and one band saves Rock and Roll.