Talkin' Gen-X Music

Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alanis Morissette, and a lost icon of 90s rock

Hey, hey, my, my
Rock and roll will never die
Just hang your hair down in your eyes
You'll make a million dollars

—Todd Snyder, Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues

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This week we’re talkin’ Gen-X music from the 90s. Ben, Mat, and Kody each harken back to songs and artists that shaped their 90s experience. This edition’s theme was inspired by our Bonus Track from a familiar friend who wants to introduce you to the titan who produced some of the greatest rock masterpieces of the era.

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Better Man by Pearl Jam (Ben)

I can feel high school when certain songs come on the radio. “Radio” - that’s a pre-playlist expression matching this week’s throwback theme. Unlike many of my friends, I didn’t know every song on Pearl Jam’s classic Vitalogy album. I never owned it. I had to borrow my older brother’s. I’d forward to the songs I knew and Better Man was my favorite. I feel high school when the guitar comes in 25 seconds into the song - then again when the energy jumps levels right before the 2-minute mark. Give it a listen… and see where it takes you back.

In Bloom by Sturgill Simpson (Mat)

My earliest musical influences were my older cousins. They taught me about all kinds of stuff, including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and 90s rap. However, I learned about Nirvana by watching VH1. I can’t even begin to imagine how many hours of Pop Up Video I have watched. This cover of “In Bloom” by Sturgill Simpson is as wonderfully executed as it is unexpected. It takes me back to a lazy weekend morning tuned in to Pop Up Video.

Ironic by Alanis Morissette (Kody)

I don’t remember how or why I got it, but my first CD was Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. Talk about an album that captured the spirit of the 90s Gen-X age. The sounds (and lyrics) are so rugged, rebellious, and emotional.

I’m listening to the song “Ironic” while I write this entry and I’m amazed at how it weds some kind of catchy Vanessa Carlton vibe with a grungy alternative bang-your-head chorus. Give it a listen and be transported back to the mid-90s.

Bonus Track: Serve the Servants by Matthew Rasmussen

Gen-X lost an absolute titan last week. If you don't know the name Steve Albini, let's change that. Hopefully you've heard one or all of Nirvana's In Utero, PJ Harvey's Rid of Me, Pixies' Surfer Rosa or the Breeders' Pod, to name a few. (And if you've heard none, boy are you in for a TREAT.)

Steve Albini was behind the boards for all those masterpiece records -- and those are the most obvious choices to pick when honoring someone who produced dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of uncompromising rock records throughout the past 40 years.

How do you pick just one song to honor the man? Well, let's look at Albini's own musical career. Steve was in several bands in the 80s and 90s, one of which is unprintable here. I'm selecting his most well-known band Big Black, and the ferocious title-track from their 1984 Racer-X EP. 

Steve formed Big Black in 1981 and recorded the band's first EP, Lungs, almost entirely by himself. He eventually brought in other musicians, but never a drummer. Instead, Steve used a drum machine for Big Black's explosive tempo, which is partly why the band goes so hard in its musical assault. (It was also one less member to pay. A good call all around, Steve.) 

Racer-X was my gateway to Big Black, a fast and industrial EP that'll leave you with whiplash in its nineteen minute runtime. It's also TERRIFYING, in the way both Rid of Me and the back half of In Utero can sound so deeply unsettling. The entire EP is great, but as its first track, Racer-X made me immediately sit up and pay close attention.

In a tribute to Steve last week, Rolling Stone said it better than I could, so I'll leave you with this. "With Big Black, Steve Albini strove to make the angriest, scariest sounds you’ve ever heard. He scraped a metal pick against his guitar strings to give his atmospheric riffing extra crackle, he used a drum machine to make the music robotically rigid, and he sang about the most disgusting things you could think of."

Farewell, Steve. An untoppable, all-time music career. You ruled, man. 

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Matthew Rasmussen is a screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles, even though Hollywood is deeply broken right now. He's riding out the current corporate-merging nightmare. He first started collecting vinyl twenty years ago this June. The first haul of records he bought in the summer of 2004 included Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Patti Smith's Radio Ethiopia, Joni Mitchell's Clouds, and the Jesus Christ Superstar concept album. He probably paid less than $20 for all of those, back when used records were like $4 per ratty album. He deeply misses those days.

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Share your Gen-X music stories with us! We love hearing from you. Have a great weekend, friends.

-TheMusicSwap