ALTERNATIVE I: The Underground Years

Years: 1980-1990

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Alternative music is in itself one of the most complex genres out there, perhaps surpassed only by Metal, which is a universe unto itself. Like Metal, Alternative music has a tremendous infinity of subgenres and offshoots that make it exquisitely complex, from bands that border on pop, others that create dense and complex sounds bordering on progressive, those that create more minimalist sounds, etc. In itself, attempting a definition of Alternative music is a bit of a stretch. The term is generally used to pigeonhole bands that don't fit into any pre-existing genre, and more specifically, in the 1980s, it emerged as a way to differentiate these bands' sound from the Metal and New Wave that dominated the era. Alternative is generally understood as music with distorted guitars that frequently use power chords, powerful riffs, fuzz effects and feedback, returning to some foundations of 70s Hard Rock although without the characteristics of solos and virtuosity of these bands. Lyrically, it carries some social content and the anxieties of the so-called Generation X, such as drug use, sex (more as a problem, not as a liberation as it was handled in the 60s and 70s, and this is a clear effect of AIDS in the postmodern vision), environmentalism, criticism of economic and political realities, etc. In reality, it is a very broad definition that says everything and nothing, and I think it applies more to bands from the 90s than to the founders of the 80s. The sounds of the same bands considered Alternative often have absolutely nothing to do with each other, which shows us how complex it can be. For some, Tool is considered Progressive. For others, No Doubt is Pop. NIN is Industrial, etc., etc., etc.

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Mark Josephson, producer, tried to encompass it in 1988 with the following words: “Alternative music is music that hasn't reached mass audiences. It's not New Wave, it's a state of mind. Alternative is any kind of music that has the potential to reach a wider audience. It has real power, real quality, and it has to be socially significant, which is the opposite of Whitney Houston, who is inconsequential.”

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Josephson was right about everything, except one thing… No, not about Whitney Houston, but about Alternative's ability to reach mass audiences. Many of us associate Alternative with that musical explosion of the 90s, which I think is of tremendous quality, but Josephson was speaking in 1988 when Alternative was still an underground music. Nirvana's Nevermind would bring Alternative music out of the basements and schools and turn it into a massive, profitable business. If Alternative music had the potential to find a mass audience due to its quality, it was only a matter of time before people grew tired of the banality of '80s Pop and New Wave and removed the label "potential" from Alternative music and replaced it with "reality." But it wasn't always this way. Although the '90s saw a musical explosion unlike anything seen since 1966-67, and even had subgenres like Grunge, Brit Pop, and Indie that we'll cover as independent genres, Alternative spent quite a while in the shadows, waiting for its moment.

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To avoid overdoing it, I'm going to divide Alternative into two parts. In this one, we'll focus on those dark years when the genre was growing and developing in universities and half-empty clubs, refining itself, attracting more and more people looking for more content and substance. In the second part, we'll see when Alternative finally exploded, subdivided, and encompassed the rebirth of Rock in the Mainstream, again despite the industry, and largely thanks to a young lefty from Washington.

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By 1980, there were many young bands who didn't want to follow the dominant trends, whether it was Punk, which was in retreat, or New Wave or Metal, which were clearly on the rise. So they drew on other influences to create a more independent sound. I think much of the audacity and indifference of these early bands is due to the influence they drew from the Velvet Underground, who didn't adhere to classic rock structures, and thanks to this, alternative rock has no real limits in its sound and musical richness.

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These were the influences Michael Stipe and Peter Buck had when they formed their band in Georgia, USA, in 1980. The informal jams began to take shape, and in April, a friend asked them to play at his birthday party, so they had to come up with a band name. As a joke, they named the band after a song one of them had heard one morning at university, Rapid Eye Movement, whose initials are the now world-famous acronym R.E.M. The band was a local hit, soon found a manager, and in 1981 released their first single, "Radio Free Europe." The band's popularity grew through word of mouth on the US college circuit, gradually improving their sound, and they even declined to sign with a major label like RCA in favor of a more homegrown sound. They also refused to include bombastic solos in their songs, not because Buck lacked the ability, but because they wanted to differentiate themselves from mainstream sounds. They also refused to let the I.R.S. label, with whom they eventually signed, force them to use synthesizers that predominated in New Wave. Their first album, Murmur, was released in 1983, achieving relative success for a band considered underground. The band maintained its following and continued to grow throughout the 1980s but refused to pursue a commercial sound, much to the despair of I.R.S. executives who demanded their final push. The band received critical praise, their albums received frequent college radio play, but commercial radio stations showed no interest in R.E.M. For their third album, they recorded in such deplorable conditions, cold and short on food, that they ended up changing the entire idea of ​​the album to title it "Fables of Reconstruction," based on the idea of ​​an old man telling fables and myths to children around a fire. The album is great, but no one wanted to hear that; they preferred Madonna, Cindy Lauper, or Bon Jovi. R.E.M. is now a hallowed name in rock, but it seems they achieved success despite themselves. Their sound was ahead of its time, but they undoubtedly paved the way for other bands and should be considered the quintessential alternative band.

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The Violent Femmes, from Milwaukee, had a similar career. Although their sound was much more influenced by Patti Smith's post-punk, they also featured folk, acoustic sounds, and country. Initially, they played in cafes or simply on the street, as no one wanted them in their establishments because of their unusual music. One evening, they were playing outside the theater where the Pretenders were scheduled to perform that evening, and Chrissie Hynde, the band's vocalist, was enchanted by them and invited them to play that same night after the main show. The Violent Femmes signed with an independent label called Slash Records and recorded several albums that weren't successful at the time, except for a few singles like "Blister In The Sun." Ironically, their self-titled debut album would go platinum 10 years after its release, when alternative music became more commercial, and the Violent Femmes would become a cult band, which seems to be the consolation prize for most alternative-based bands.

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Sonic Youth is another band that should be considered a founding member, and that had a huge influence on subsequent bands. The band was formed in New York in 1980 by Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. From the start, the band showed a tremendous influence from the Velvet Underground's noise rock, playing with strange guitar effects to create unusual and powerful distortions, making a strong impression at a Noise Fest. After some changes to the rest of the lineup, Sonic Youth began to gain more acceptance in Europe than at the Noise Festivals in their own country. At one of their London performances, the sound system failed, unleashing Moore's fury, who smashed the equipment in true The Who style. In 1986, Kim and Thurston married, and the band began to gain greater recognition in the New York underground scene. They released their third album, Bad Moon Rising, which was much more experimental than their first albums, with no marked transitions between songs. Shortly after, they signed with SST Records, a well-established independent label. The album Evol began to attract media attention, with some critics even calling Sonic Youth the greatest guitar revolution since Jimi Hendrix. In 1988, they switched to Enigma Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, which was supposed to give them more exposure. However, despite the double-disc release Daydream Nation achieving universal critical acclaim and their first commercial radio hit single, "Teenage Riot," Enigma struggled to distribute the album and found it impossible to obtain it. The band continued throughout the 1990s with their sound, eventually achieving massive success and recognition at major alternative rock festivals. Most of the alternative bands that dominated the 1990s cited them as an influence on their sound, especially in the grunge scene, and eventually, Sonic Youth became an active cult band. The band has continued to this day, with member changes and some hiatuses, but without breaking up and continuing with a non-commercial sound, despite some more melodic flirtations. Sonic Youth had such a strong influence that some consider them the true fathers of grunge.

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The Pixies formed a little later, in 1986 in Boston. Joey Santiago and Black Francis met at the University of Massachusetts, discovered that they were fascinated by David Bowie and decided to form a band, so they dropped out and got a job in a warehouse, which gave them time to play guitar and write some things. They decided they wanted to form a Peter Paul & Mary type trio, so Francis put an ad in the newspaper looking for a bassist who also sang and liked Folk, but also Hardcore Punk. Kim Deal was the girl who answered but she couldn’t play the bass at all. They accepted her because they could rehearse in her room because her neighbor was deaf and didn’t complain about the noise. They got her a bass, or rather, a ticket to borrow one from a friend of her sister and taught her the basics of the instrument. The stories of these cult bands are exquisitely surreal, aren’t they? David Lovering would join the band on drums to complete the combo, since Kim met him at her own wedding, and it came up that she had a band and needed a drummer, and he was a drummer and needed a band, hahaha. The name couldn't be less irreverent; they randomly picked it from a dictionary because they needed one at the time. They recorded their first album for $1,000 in three days. It was released only as a demo at local parties, but soon began to get airplay on college and independent radio stations. Shortly after, an independent producer fell in love with them and, with just $1,000 and in three days, got them to record what would become their first album, Come On Pilgrim, with some songs influenced by Francis's time in Puerto Rico, some lyrics in Spanish, and a great lyrical irreverence. The owner of 4AD, the unknown label that signed them, said they sounded too rock and that that was no longer the norm, but he took a chance. The Pixies' second album, Surfer Rosa, is now a legendary album that influenced the entire generation of idols of the early 90s, from Kurt Cobain, Brian Molko, Kelly Jones, Billy Corgan, and more. But at the time, it went almost unnoticed, achieving success mostly on the college circuit. Doolittle would enjoy a bit more success, and the band moved to Europe where it enjoyed a better response, but just as they were achieving the fame and recognition they deserved, the group broke up in late 1992. Kurt would cite the Pixies as his greatest influence when writing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the song's pronounced rhythm changes.

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The Flaming Lips were formed in Oklahoma in 1983 by brothers Mark and Wayne Cooney. Originally, Mark was the vocalist, but after a couple of years of performing their irreverent music, which leaned more toward the surrealism and psychedelia of the 60s (more specifically the Syd Barrett school) than the trends of the time, Mark left the band and Wayne replaced him on vocals. The band released their first album, Hear It Is, in 1986. The band kept a rather low profile throughout the rest of the 80s, reinventing their experimental sound with almost every album, while Wayne also changed vocal styles. This led to the development of a strong fan base that appreciated their unusual, non-commercial sounds. The albums weren't exactly hits, but they earned enough to keep taking risks. They soon began to filter through to mainstream radio, and by 1990, they were already dominating the alternative festivals that were becoming increasingly common. In 1990, Warner Bros. signed them, and their subsequent albums would have much more impact, with constant shifts in sound and constant experimentation. The most notable is 1997's Azireka, a quadruple CD that must be played simultaneously in four different players to achieve the juxtaposed sound the band intended, although many combinations can also be made by omitting one or more discs. The Who's quadrophonic sound taken to the limit! Anyway, the fact is that since the Alternative explosion in the '90s, the Flaming Lips have also been a cult band and a heavy hitter at festivals. Despite their ups and downs, and their explorations of more commercial sounds (who doesn't know the lovely "Do You Realize"), they're still active and are one of the most anticipated bands at festivals. Oh, and they're also famous for their covers, from their version of Dark Side of the Moon to their appearances on tributes to Lennon, Black Sabbath, and The Who, among others, respecting the essence but completely transforming the song according to their own vision.

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Finally, we have Jane's Addiction, formed in 1985 by Dave Navarro and Pery Farrell in L.A. I'm not a particular fan of them, but I must admit that this band is the link between the two stages of Alternative and was decisive in the genre's emergence from the underground during the transition to the 90s. The band's strong suit was always their live performances. Their first studio album, Nothing Shocking (the first was the self-titled live album), didn't work because, although the group had a slightly more commercial sound than the rest of the bands mentioned, MTV refused to air them. However, they opened for The Ramones and Iggy Pop, and soon had an audience that came to see them and not the main show. Their second studio album, Ritual de lo Habitual, came out in 1990 and was much more commercially successful than the first, so much so that the tour for the album lasted over a year. Due to the grueling tour, Dave Navarro spiraled into heroin addiction, the band experienced friction, and what was supposed to be a triumphant worldwide tour ended in a farewell tour, as their split was inevitable. This tour ultimately became the first Lollapalooza and was conceived as a farewell festival for the band, which would include performances by other alternative bands that were achieving success. The festival was conceived as a traveling tour, appearing throughout the United States and in cities across Canada. Thus, the first edition of Lollapalooza included bands like Nine Inch Nails, The Butthole Surfers, and the Violent Femmes. This gave alternative bands massive exposure across the United States, bringing the genre out of the shadows. Suddenly, records began selling, bands that had been around for a while became iconic figures, and those just starting out, like NIN, enjoyed tremendous success. That same year, 1991, Nirvana released Nevermind, becoming a tremendous sales hit and dethroning Michael Jackson and his Dangerous from the top spot on the charts. Ironically, Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell ended up fighting on stage during their first performance at Lollapalooza, which would mark the definitive end of the band, although its members were separately involved in the organization of subsequent editions.

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The first Lollapalooza and Nevermind would end this initial period in which alternative rock had been hidden, maintaining a low profile on college radio and smaller festivals, overshadowed by pop, new wave, hair metal, and the nascent success of rap. From then on, it became a phenomenon that would lead to a Bronze Age of Rock in the early 90s, with high-quality bands dominating the radio stations and relegating pop to the background for a time.

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Some of these founding bands lived to enjoy the success and respect of the masses, but others didn't survive and collapsed for various reasons just as they were barely achieving success. Some regrouped briefly. The fact is that, despite the fact that they may not be household names, all of them, along with some other bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Butthole Surfers, etc., managed to keep the spirit of rock alive during the difficult '80s and give it a new lease on life in the '90s. That's why I haven't lost hope that the cycle can repeat itself after this almost empty decade of the '00s, although the factors are very different from almost 30 years ago.

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And with all this, I wanted to point out that "Alternative" was initially the label given to the distribution of these bands' albums. Since the major labels were very busy with Vini Vanilly, Bananarama, and New Kids On The Block, rock bands had to go to very small independent labels to get released. And this distribution method was called Alternative: "I signed to an alternative label." The nickname spread to the bands, and eventually ended up pigeonholing all the bands that didn't fit into any pre-existing genre.

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Anyway, another point I wanted to emphasize is that, when you look at it closely, none of these bands invented anything new. The last genre with its own identity was New Wave of the late 90s, although with a strong pop influence and less substance. Alternative sounds are simply a mix of everything that was already done, from Hard Rock with its powerful riffs and torn vocals, Punk from which many influences would be taken for grunge, psychedelic sounds, Folk, electronic experimentation, the most complex sounds that border on progressive, the return to Brit Pop created by the Kinks in the 60's, nuances of jazz, etc., etc., etc. Simply put, the bands made their own identity by making various combinations with these sounds. That's why I agree with the idea that Rock died at the beginning.

 

By Corvan   

Aug/20/2010

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