Mojo - The Music Magazine

A pox on Brooklyn and all who sail in her. A "scene" populated by privileged trendoids manufacturing a snootily metropolitan pseudo-underground? No thanks. Back in the '80s, there were proper regional scenes in America, which the virus of punk had taken so long to reach it had already mutated, and would mutate further before the world could be arsed to notice. Late-'80s Seattle had it all: a genuine, grass-roots outsider attitude, a visionary label (Sub Pop) and a sound that unashamedly mixed the edgy with the sludgy, plus 24-carat hardcore characters like King Buzzo, Mark Arm and Tad Doyle. For five years the world went rightly grunge mad, and the fundamental rock'n'roll thrills peddled by the grunge bands reinvigorated alternative rock, to point where, rising to converge, it could barely be termed alternative at all. But that wasn't grunge's fault; it was a flannel hairball in the craw of MTV, until MTV learned to swallow (as it invariably did, or does). Here, then, are our favourite filmic relics of that era - grunge, proto-grunge, quasi-grunge, crypto-grunge, even grunge-lite - chosen by Danny Eccleston, and all inspired by the Michael Lavine photo-feature in the latest MOJO magazine...

Melvins, 1984

Grunge's embryonic phase, epitomised by one of the Pacific North West's seed bands. Hell, you could almost say King Buzzo looks cute in this one.

Nirvana - Negative Creep, Rhino Records, 1989

Future world-shakers - in their Chad Channing plus Jason Everman incarnation - rock a record shop with Bleach's negaholic anthem. No wonder Kurt had back trouble, with a posture like that.

Tad - Wood Goblins, 1989

Twisted survivalist chic courtesy of the big guy with the little name. Imagine Killing Joke curdled into something dumber and nastier.

Mudhoney - Let It Slide, 1991

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With the Seattle scene translating via ecstatic coverage in the UK inkies, its core bands were accruing guru status. Here's Mark Arm and Steve Turner setting fire to an evil orc riff from Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.

Soundgarden - Rusty Cage, 1991

The metallest of the Seattle scenesters showcase the low-tuned guitars and dissonant riffing common to the genre. Later covered by Johnny Cash, who knew a tune when he heard one.

Sonic Youth & Friends in 1991: The Year Punk Broke,

Grunge added momentum to the entire American post-punk underground, a fact that hovers above Dave Markey's documentary - based on Sonic Youth's August '91 European tour with Nirvana - like a flickering neon sign. The world-changing September 10 release of the latter's Smells Like Teen Spirit was just a month away. In this clip, Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon dance to a Thurston Moore improv-rap - "the snake running into my behind" indeed! Not as easy as Patti makes it look, eh Thurston?

Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You, 1992

Mark Lanegan's grunge behemoths enter their Houses Of The Holy period, with a tune from Sweet Oblivion that starred on the soundtrack of Seattle flick Singles. Yes, that's Steve Ferrone (AWB, Clapton) on drums... What's he doing there?

L7 - Pretend That We're Dead, 1992

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Notorious performance on Channel 4's notorious The Word, ending in an eyeful of something unexpected.

Pennyroyal Tea - Unplugged, 1993

Nirvana's last will and testament, and a stately one. Beautiful acoustic version of the In Utero track.

Green River, Reformed for Sub Pop 20, 2008

A pre-Mudhoney Mark Arm and pre-Pearl Jam Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard cut their teeth in this proto-grunge comglom before falling out over punk aesthetics. Here they are burying the hatchet last year, with Arm in full "Iggy" mode.