What to Listen For in '90s Pop and Rock: The Grunge Movement

grunge

[gruhnj]

–noun Slang.

1.	dirt; filth; rubbish.

2.	something of inferior quality; trash: He didn't know good music from grunge.

3.	a person who works hard, usually for meager rewards; grind.

4.	a style or fashion derived from a movement in rock music: in fashion characterized by unkempt clothing and in music by aggressive, nihilistic songs.

Before I begin talking about grunge as a social movement, a quick comment on the first dictionary definition of grunge... "He didn't know good music from grunge"!!! Simply a coincidence I felt necessary to keep in the blog.

The grunge rock movement is said to have sparked from the combination of hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie rock and the isolated streets of Seattle during the mid 1980s.

As Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman noted,

"Seattle was a perfect example of a secondary city with an active music scene that was completely ignored by an American media fixated on Los Angeles and New York."

The success of grunge can definitely be attributed to NIRVANA and PEARL JAM, two of the most well known grunge rock bands ever.

The appeal of grunge comes from its 'dirty' sounds - distorted electric guitars and lyrics of protest, apathy or anger at social trends... coming with it the makings of a controversial subculture of the 90s, including most obviously, their own style of music, a anti-consumer social outlook and a fashion sense able to distinguish them from the rest.

Grunge has become a subculture, made up of torn three-quarter jeans, frustration with the consumer society, unwashed hair and apathetic attitudes directed at those in authoritative positions.

Searching Google for articles and websites on grunge culture has been very interesting, having found sites dedicated to showing grunge fans how to dress 'grunge', what music to listen to and how they should do their hair. It seems that this subculture which began from the musical stylings of Nirvana and others, may be turning the other way around - perhaps people want to live the grunge lifestyle, and then discover the music which supports the culture.

A subculture initiated by the angst of society practices now has websites telling people how to have the same thoughts, dress sense and musical taste as those considered grunge, who probably don't consciously dress grunge, they just dress the way they want - cheap clothing, comfortable and timeless... and somewhat lazy.

"The GRUNGE aesthetic is characterized by a layer of abrasive filth which roughens an underlying source of beauty to soften its presence and make it more palatable to a jaded audience."

It seems kind of silly to have instructions on how to be part of a subculture, particularly when the culture represents the exact opposite of the conformation to social demands. Even though this is not strictly an adherence to the norm, its ironic that there should be sites listing the dos and don'ts of the grunge subculture. One of the main messages I get from the grunge culture is that it is supposed to be an effortless, careless subculture, these sites seem to contradict this.

These YouTube clips are of a VH1 Grunge Special, featuring Nirvana.