Article by: Marissa Holt

Flannel shirts and a heavy, soul-wrenching sound will forever be attributed to the grunge music scene. However, in today’s reality, we may have lost what is truly grunge. Of course there are many artists that have been influenced by bands such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden. Many of these bands are still around today, but have they evolved into a more mature form of grunge music or something mainstream and forced? Many consider the dissolution of Soundgarden in 1997 as the last straw of downfalls, including the murder of Gits front-women Mia Zapata and suicide of Kurt Cobain, that inevitably lead to the end of grunge music, even though Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains are still producing music.

Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 out of the remnants of a band named Mother Love Bone, and was one of the primary bands that developed grunge music out of Seattle. The name originated from Eddie Vedder’s  Aunt Pearl and her family-famous jam which contained peyote.  Their first album, Ten (Epic, 1991), featured songs such as “Evenflow,” “Alive,” and “Jeremy.” These were all songs that spoke literal volumes on a backwards society still relevant today.  “Jeremy” was a song about a boy that shot himself in front of his class and eerily reflects upon the Columbine tragedy that happened years later. If you listen to Pearl Jam today, their new album Backspacer (Monkeywrench, 2009), comes equipped with bonus material exclusive to Target, a corporate entity, and directly contradicts the grunge “fuck-the-man” ideology. The first single, “the Fixer,” has some heart behind it, even if it is overplayed on the radio, but completely lacks the angst and raw beauty of what defined grunge.

After Alice in Chains lost their lead singer, Layne Staley, to a drug overdose in 2002, both the band and fans were devastated. Now, inconceivably in 2009, they are back and have released a new album, Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin, 2009), with  new vocalist William DuVall. The first single off of this album is “Check my Brain” and has been played from radio stations from Boston to God-only -knows-where. Jerry Cantrell is said to have written this song about his move from Seattle to California and how he is an ex-drug addict surrounded by drugs every day. Compared to the song “Nutshell,” off of Alice in Chains’ extended play, Jar of Flies (Columbia, 1994), “Check my Brain” sounds like a teenager complaining about how it isn’t his fault he is in a certain situation. The difference between the two singers, and the band then and now, is more than immense: it’s incomprehensible. While Layne Staley was a true drug addict trying to escape his reality and ultimate fate, Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall just seem like people  who whine about how awful it is to live in California and have constant temptation; At least they are still alive.

It seems inevitable to conclude that grunge music as it was known, and as it truly is meant to be, no longer exists. Both Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains want something meaningful to present to their listeners, but come up short.

At least the Melvins are still poor and touring.