Were Nirvana a grunge band?
I've noticed of late that this is not anything profound to question, there are plenty of people who'd say they were not. However, the question for me originated somewhere back when I started listening to Pearl Jam. Because I'd been so used to associating Nirvana with basically embodying grunge music, when hearing PJ I thought to myself, hey, this doesn't sound very "grungey" at all really - it just sounds like classic old-school rock with a rougher edge to it and a vocalist with a serious throat infection.
I made a post to that effect here. I was, to my surprise, told that actually it's PEARL JAM that pretty much define grunge. That old rock + a strong male vocalist and dirty/rough recording aesthetic was really, in summary, what "grunge" was. Listening to a few other bands of the early grunge movement, I realized that this claim was pretty much spot on.
In that case, where does this leave Nirvana? They don't really sound like any of those bands. They're much more punky, and furthermore don't seem to derive from old rock at all. The punk influences coupled with the Pixies-esque abrasive melodic style seems to indicate that Nirvana owed their origins more to late 80s indie rock than anything else.
Looking up a bit on the topic I've found that a number of writers tend to separate Nirvana from all that "Seattle-sound" business. I'm half inclined to agree. Where do others stand on the matter?
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