4 Must-Listen Seattle Grunge Albums from the Late 80s

Grunge really took off in the 90s, but there were a handful of grunge bands who were drafting the blueprints of the genre in the late 80s as well. Many of these bands, of course, started in Seattle, like the following groups in this list. However, there were others in the U.S., like Dinosaur Jr. in Amherst, Massachusetts, or L7 in Los Angeles. Here, we’ll be looking at four albums from bands who jumpstarted the Seattle grunge scene in the late 80s.

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Must-Know Albums That Made Way for the Seattle Grunge Scene

Rehab Doll — Green River

Green River are widely considered one of the earliest Seattle grunge bands, paving the way for Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, and Temple of the Dog. They formed in 1984 and released their debut, Rehab Doll, in 1988. The album is crucial in the history of early grunge, but its recording was fraught with infighting and creative differences. Vocalist Mark Arm wanted the band to remain independent, while guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament wanted to go in a more major-label direction. After the album was complete, Gossard, Ament, and additional guitarist Bruce Fairweather left the band. During their tenure as a band, Green River released two EPs—Come On Down and Dry as a Bone—and the one full-length album before parting ways.

Superfuzz Bigmuff — Mudhoney

When Green River dissolved in late 1987, Mark Arm and guitarist Steve Turner formed Mudhoney with bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. They released the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP in 1988, named after two of the band’s signature guitar pedals which gave them their dirty sound. According to Turner, the album came together quickly, and the band recorded songs that were essentially inspired by or imitating other bands. Speaking with the Life of the Record podcast, Turner explained that at the time “there wasn’t a whole lot of thought, but usually in my mind, I always try to think of something that I think it sounds like … Like, you know, ‘What are we accidentally ripping off?’ if you will. And sometimes it’s like, ‘Great, we’re ripping it off. Cool.’”

Clairvoyance — Screaming Trees

Screaming Trees formed in Ellensburg, Washington, a small town outside of Seattle, with brothers Gary Lee and Van Conner on guitar and bass, Mark Lanegan on vocals, and Mark Pickerel on drums until he was replaced in 1991. Coming together in 1984, they released a series of EPs independently before releasing Clairvoyance in 1986, which scored them a deal with Greg Ginn’s SST Records. This album was crucial to early Seattle grunge, but it also incorporated psychedelic and garage rock elements, making it a unique offering. However, at the time, no one was really interested in the album or the band. It wasn’t until they released Even If and Especially When in 1987, their first on SST, that they started gaining traction.

Gluey Porch Treatments — Melvins

Melvins dropped their debut album Gluey Porch Treatments in 1987 in a limited vinyl release but later put it out on cassette and included the tracks as bonus material on their second album Ozma in 1989. Gluey Porch Treatments is one of the early iterations of sludge rock, paving the way for true Seattle grunge. The album has a sticky, repetitive sound, another unique offering at the time. In the 2009 biography The Dave Grohl Story, Grohl described it as being heavier than Black Sabbath. An interesting pipeline to traditional Seattle grunge, which is not quite as heavy, but it’s easy to see how Melvins were influential in the scene.

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