3 Forgotten Grunge Songs That Will Make You Miss the Genre

When it comes to grunge, there are giant names that almost every music fan knows. From Pearl Jam to Nirvana to Soundgarden to Alice in Chains, the headliners are household names. As are many of the individual artists, from Eddie Vedder to Chris Cornell to Kurt Cobain. But the scene was richer and more vast than just a handful of groups.

We wanted to explore three examples of just that. A trio of tracks from the grunge era that are not only worth discovering but also deserve countless revisits. These are three incredible forgotten grunge songs that will make you wish it were still the early ’90s.

“Villains Also Wear White” – Bam Bam (Demo, 1984)

In recent years, there has been a lot of conversation in music circles about Tina Bell and her band Bam Bam. While she didn’t get the attention she deserved in mid-80s Seattle, she was appreciated by some in the city at the time, including a young Kurt Cobain, who attended her shows and even helped carry her gear.

Some say that Bell and Bam Bam were grunge pioneers. Whether the band considered itself grunge in the moment is a bit unclear, but they certainly helped influence the style thanks to their buzzy tracks and muscular music.

“Make My Mind” – Screaming Trees from Dust (1996)

Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan was Seattle’s Tom Waits. Depraved, beautiful. A heart of gold covered in motor oil and cigarette ash. Lanegan even had a growl to his voice that sounded like he was cut from the same hellish vaudevillian cloth as Waits. Oh, and before you fret, these are all compliments.

Like Waits, Lanegan is an all-time artist. One who wrote better poetry on the backs of bar napkins than most graduate students did in their precious moleskins. And “Make My Mind” is a perfect example of all of this. While Screaming Trees isn’t a household name, they should be.

“Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns” – Mother Love Bone from Apple (1990)

Mother Love Bone was the great Seattle band that never was. Weeks before they were set to drop their debut LP, Apple, lead vocalist and beloved artist Andrew Wood died of a drug overdose. The former roommate and close friend of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, Wood’s absence left a big hole in the city and is one of several devastating deaths to come from the grunge scene.

Cornell later paid tribute to Wood with the band Temple of the Dog. But you can enjoy some of their best stuff on this track from Apple and the soundtrack for the movie, Singles.