Steeped in Seattle rain and opiates, grunge bands were primarily inspired by punk rock. Seattle enjoyed its own brief punk scene in the late ’70s and early ’80s after the Ramones played at the Olympic Hotel ballroom; following this, a new league of bands, which included the Melvins (originally from the rural logging town of Aberdeen, like Nirvana to come), took punk rock and incorporated metal to create a new sound. This melodic merging of punk and metal, along with distortion and fuzz, dark themes, quirky lyrics, guitar solos, muted or screamed vocals, and an overall nitty-gritty quality became the formula for “grunge,” while ripped jeans, thrift store finds, Doc Martens, and emblematic flannel shirts became requisite attire. Grunge was about mismatched patterns and moods, a throwback to the counterculture of the ’60s—long hair and anti-fashion trends complemented the music as one aesthetic element of the Generation X plight (poor economics, divorced families) and Northwestern weather.

Grunge bands formed a rather tight knit group, but, despite being lumped together into one musical genre and one primary location (although several grunge bands were not actually from Seattle), every band produced its own distinct sound. Malfunkshun, for instance, was described as having melded “hardcore punk and the excesses of Seventies glam rock,” while Soundgarden borrowed from Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Notwithstanding differences in sound, these bands collectively spoke for and represented the jaded youth generation, and thus created a subculture through which kids could feel a sense of personal connection and identity.