5 Essential Seattle Rock Bands Post-Grunge

In the late ’80s and especially in the early ’90s, Seattle was besieged by sharks. People from record companies near and far descended upon the region when it seemed like every band with a garage and a guitar could be the next big thing. With the success of groups like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam, the city was capitalism’s oyster.

Indeed, other bands made waves at the time, too. Including Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, and more. Not to mention rapper Sir Mix a Lot, who had the No. 1 hit, “Baby Got Back.” But when it came to grunge groups like the Big Four noted above, there was much success and much sadness. By the end of the musical movement, it seemed like an important artist was dying every time you turned a page in your calendar.

People like Andrew Wood, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, and Mia Zapata had all died way too young. It was a big downer. But life had to move on. And in the wake of all this sadness came new bands with a resilient heart and important messages of self-inquisition and even some positivity. Here are five essential rock bands from Seattle who soldiered on in the wake of the grunge music downfall.

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Not yet two years after Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain killed himself, the Presidents of the United States released their debut self-titled LP.

In many ways, lead singer Chris Ballew was just what the doctor ordered. He was fun, almost child-like when it came to his lyrics (there’s no wonder why he was such a success later as Caspar Babypants). Where Kurt was super serious, Ballew could bounce off the walls. He and PUSA were a breath of fresh air thanks to tracks like “Peaches.”

MODEST MOUSE

When Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard was asked what local band was the most important to him post-grunge, he didn’t cite his own. Instead, he said it was Modest Mouse.

For a while, Gibbard said, Seattle was the epicenter of cool. But that label never quite fit. So, it took the off-kilter, brusque Modest Mouse to get the city back in its outcast groove. And thank goodness the band helped that happen with songs like “Float On.”

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

Speaking of Gibbard and Death Cab, it was this group’s poetic, cerebral yet soft style that appealed to so many. We were tired of the over-the-top guitars, and the drums that felt like they were bashing a hole in the floor. Instead, we needed a moment to think, to consider, and to calm down after so much raucous rock. And it was Gibbard and his Death Cab for Cutie that allowed so many listeners in the Pacific Northwest to do just that.

THE HEAD AND THE HEART

Once the region had recovered, there was a new movement afoot. While Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were making beats and writing raps in the late 2000s and into the 2010s, it was groups on the other side of town who were writing acoustic, folk-driven songs.

There was a whole twangy Americana moment born of that era in Seattle (see: Brandi Carlile for more). But it was the group the Head and the Heart that perhaps planted the tallest flag in the sound, thanks to soul-warming songs like “Rivers & Roads.”

AYRON JONES

Today, Ayron Jones is the biggest name when it comes to new Seattle rock. Since the pandemic, Jones has garnered several No. 1 rock songs on the Billboard chart, as well as nabbing other top spots in countries abroad.

With a prowess on the guitar only matched by names like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jones and his gravelly voice are the pinnacle of what is possible when you come out of the Emerald City today. With hope, there is much more to come, both from Jones and the many other bands rocking today (like Deep Sea Diver, Thunderpussy, and The Black Tones).