A few months ago, in an interview to Rolling Stone, Patrick Carney of the Black Keys launched a blistering attack on today's music scene, Nickelback, and the post grunge movement of the '90s and '00s. Now, I'm not really a fan of the Black Keys, and haven't heard much of their music. However, I do know that I love post grunge, a genre that has played an important role in my evolution as a musician and a listener. I write this piece in defense of a genre of rock music that has been frequently (albeit erroneously) maligned in recent years.
Post grunge has been defined as "commercially acceptable grunge". It gained popularity in the mid-'90s (around the time of Nirvana's demise) and contin
ued into the '00s. Musically, it differed from grunge music in that it had a more "produced" feel. The chord progressions were more structured and the rhythms better timed. Critics of the genre have often complained that it lacked the freestyle sound of classic rock. Fans of post grunge, on the other hand, welcomed its tight sound and structured arrangements. The term “post grunge” is a bit misleading. Many of the famous post grunge bands of the nineties actually started out as punk/alternative acts in the '80s and early '90s, before grunge had even been born. The Goo Goo Dolls were a lo
ud punk band before they developed their matured sound, evident on albums like
Dizzy up the girl and
Gutterflower. Another common misconception regarding post grunge is that it created classic rock “haters”. On the contrary, many post grunge acts like Matchbox 20 and Nickelback introduced a whole generation of listeners (my generation) to the sounds of classic bands, by playing their covers during live shows. I still remember the first time I saw Nickelback on TV. They were rocking out on a cover of ZZ Top's “La Grange”. Since that day, ZZ Top has remained one of my favorite bands.
For thousands of listeners like me, post grunge offered a much needed escape from the ubiquitous sounds of “bedroom pop” prevalent at the turn of the millennium. The soundtrack of my mid-teens was a heady brew of Goo Goo Dolls, Staind, Foo Fighters, Collective Soul, Incubus, Matchbox 20, Counting Crows, Nickelback, and Audioslave, with some Godsmack thrown in for good measure. To this day, I can't listen to a Goo Goo Dolls tune without remembering long car drives, after-school jams with the band, and blissful hours of listening spent with girlfriends past. Nowadays, you've got rock n' roll bands like the Black Keys and the White Stripes, with a rawer and more easy-going sound. It's great. I think their time has indeed come. However, in the midst of this change, it's easy to forget bands like Nickelback who dared to push the envelope at a time when the world had forgotten how to rock.
The essential post grunge playlist
