Guardian writer Dave Simpson has filed a report from Leeds, a UK city that’s experiencing what many are referring to as a renaissance of that old ’90s “I know it when I see it” musical-descriptor standby, grunge. Simpson reports that the energy and the fuzzed-out guitars are all there waiting to be brought back into fashion, but there are a few crucial differences: “Although Wonderswan wear the check shirts of their American counterparts, and employ tongue-in-cheek slogans such as ’slack as fuck’ and ‘party like it’s 1994′—reminiscent of the self-deprecating marketing of Sub Pop, the original grunge label—all these bands wear unfeasibly tight trousers and their hair isn’t as long—although, crucially, it is just long enough to flail,” he notes. (The bands’ ability to swing on the flippity-flop was, alas, not judged.) But does this trend story hold up? Is Sub Pop going to send some A&R reps to Leeds now that Robin Pecknold has spit on its major-label ties? Will any of the bands in this story credibly cover “Swallow My Pride” anytime soon? Those questions answered after the jump.
Dinosaur Pile-Up
Scene report: “A brilliant rock band… audibly as interested in the Prodigy influence as much as grunge,” Simpson enthuses. MySpace player is illustrated with a shaky line drawing of a cassette (cute!). “My Rock N Roll” is all heavy bass and creaky vocals; it’s the most-streamed track of the three available, and probably the song that occasioned this particular trend story.
Grunge listed as a genre on their MySpace page: No (”melodramatic popular song”)
Crossover hit: The sorta Stone Temple Pilots gone Britpop “Traynor” is about as grunge as that description implies, but it could very credibly soundtrack a music video in which the band members jumped around in front of a brightly colo(u)red background.
Old Romantic Killer Band
Scene report: Influences include “BANDS THAT ARE REAL AND DANGEROUS AND MAKE ROCK AND ROLL EXIST. AND BON JOVI.” Kind of like a cross between Blind Melon and Gomez, while “Trouble Cover” has the lead singer channeling “Spoonman”-era Chris Cornell over some speeded-up blooze. (I guess someone has to fill that role these days.)
Grunge listed as a genre on their MySpace page: Yes (with “blues” and “pop” )
Crossover hit: “The Resolve,” if only because of the way people who argue with me over the late Shannon Hoon’s genius get super-passionate.
The Tempus
Scene report: Finally, the UK has its own 3 Doors Down.
Grunge listed as a genre on their MySpace page: No (”rock” )
Crossover hit: Honestly, any of these sludge-by-numbers tracks could make it on American rock radio right now, let alone at the height of ’90s modern-rock cross-pollination.
Pulled Apart By Horses
Scene report: Screamy, phlegmatic vocals over electric-shock guitars. Could very credibly have been slipped into a mix CD made up mostly of tracks from compilations released by Sub Pop or Kill Rock Stars lo those many years ago.
Grunge listed as a genre on their MySpace page: No (”rock, alternative, melodramatic popular song”)
Crossover hit: Maybe if their MySpace page streamed full songs, I could tell you! That said, “I Punched A Lion In The Throat” has one of those urgent stuttery guitar lines that very easily facilitate herky-jerky pit dancing before it gets all barroom-brawly.
Wonderswan
Scene report: Profile page’s headline declares that they are indeed “slack as fuck”; band members are listed as “Kim Deal, Kim Gordon, Kim Basinger, [and] Kim Il Sung.” (Is that a Mary Lou Lord reference?) “Cut It” has vocals that from note one are heavily influenced by J Mascis, although the fuzzed-out guitars are more Superchunk than anything else.
Grunge listed as a genre on their MySpace page: No (”tropical”)
Crossover hit: “Times Divide,” which has a pleasantly twirling guitar countermelody winding through the distortion, sounds ready for the bubblegum-pink marble vinyl treatment stat. Probably my favorite out of the bunch, so thanks, Guardian!
Just don’t call it grunge: Leeds’ new music scene [Guardian]
Dinosaur Pile-Up [MySpace]
I really like this Dinosaur Pile-Up!
These Wonderswan folks sound pretty good! Agree on the Archers of Loaf/Superchunk sound (i.e. Chapel Hill, the next Seattle).
Along the same lines as Wonderswan, check out Wet Paint: [www.myspace.com]
It’s not on the player anymore, but their song “Bellyaches” was on constant repeat for me last summer.
These are the most positive, non-snarky comments I think I’ve ever seen in an Idolator thread!
I think you need to reread mine, then.
@Zlevee: The exagerated death of grunge was brought about by too many obviously grunge bands saying that they didn’t play grunge and that grunge didn’t exist. Bands kept playing it (it’s basicaly just underrehearsed metal, so there’s very little time commitment), but no one would talk about it for fear of hearing the “we’re not grunge” spiel (see also: emo, death of). Let’s hope that the current future generation did not learn from that mistake.
Leeds bands like Boyracer, the Wedding Present and the Mekons anticipated all this “tongue-in-cheek” stuff a quarter-century ago. And did it with better music.
“My Rock N Roll” is a great song, but less grunge than it is post-grunge nerd rock (see Weezer, Nerf Herder). Still, I expect good things from Dinosaur Pile-Up.
“I Punched a Lion in the Throat” will be the title to my memoirs.
Grunge never got tired, it just got displaced by hip-hop on MTV, who in about 1994 relegated rock to the midnight hours after teeenagers were asleep despite it being overwhelmingly popular on radio. But radio followed suit by 1996 (yes, I’m actually claiming MTV had that much influence - back then, not so much now). When Rock tried to recover, bands grasped at rap-rock fusion, and that failed so miserably that emo was able to rear its ugly head.
I’m glad some kind of grunge revival is occurring.
@Zlevee: Your ideas are intriguing and I wish, etc.
The only hypothesis here is that ‘grunge’ and David Gedge are rarely far apart:
Gedge = Leeds, Seattle, Los Angeles, any other place?
Eh. There’s better bands in Leeds, like the angular art punk band ¡Forward, Russia! and the universally hated, but not bad at all electro/video arcade sound/rap/punk group Hadouken!
Dinosaur Pile-Up are pretty cool. I’d dig The Old Romantic Killer Band a bit more if I weren’t so over the whole bass-less duo thing.