Ten Seattle Area Bands That Were Unfortunately Eclipsed By Grunge

An Introduction To Underappreciated Bands That Emerged From The Pacific Northwest In The 1990s

With the major label discovery of Nirvana, and their overwhelming breakthrough, came a downpour of Seattle sounds over music fans across the world. This helped launch the careers of other great bands from the area, as well as some extraordinarily mediocre ones. Perhaps the greatest testament to the musical marvels of the Pacific Northwest are all of the exceptionally great bands who never made it big, who only made it sorta big, or who didn't make it at all until the next decade. It may very well have been a blessing, since most of the musicians mentioned here are still active in some form today, rather than having been destroyed by the excess of their success, like so many grunge icons who died tragically young.

Treepeople are indispensable for having launched the career of Doug Martsch, who would go on to form Built To Spill a few years later, and who inspired just about every indie rock band in the northwest during the 1990s and after. The band hailed from Boise, Idaho - but spent much of their time recording, promoting and performing in Seattle. From 1988 to 1994 they crafted a repertoire of high octane songs that borrowed from punk, metal and classic rock sounds. They were a key component of a local northwest music scene that was being ravaged by larger interests, and their influence and impact helped build the foundation of the post-grunge era in that area. The band reached the height of their success with the 1992 album Just Kidding, and then declined with the departure of Martsch shortly after its release.

Song to check out: Ballard Bitter

Doug  Martsch left Treepeople in 1992, disillusioned with the idea of longtime band-mates. Not wanting to quit music altogether, he formed Built To Spill, which he intended to have a revolving lineup that changed with each album. The new arrangement also gave him the freedom to compose and record a more diverse, and often pop-friendlier, collection of compositions. He also imbued it with more vulnerability, light-heartedness and humor than he had been allowed in the framework of his earlier band. Experimentation and risk paid off.  Built To Spill became darlings of the Pacific Northwest music scene, and were signed to a major label for 1997s masterpiece album Perfect From Now On, at which point the bands lineup become semi-solid for the next several albums. Built To Spill are still active, albeit with all new members backing Martsch, and recently released an album of cover songs from the late Daniel Johnston.

Made Up Dreams

After leaving the Portland, Oregon band Heatmiser, who also featured pre-solo Elliott Smith, Sam Coomes formed Quasi with former spouse Janet Weiss. The two-piece have crafted several albums of brilliant indie and punk pop over their career, while contributing to other bands along the way. Quasi and Smith later toured together, with Smith playing bass for Quasi, and the duo acting as his backing band. Coomes was also responsible for completing a posthumous album of his friend's songs after Smith's tragic suicide. Coomes also played keyboards for Built To Spill during their major label height, and managed to contribute to a few other side projects. Meanwhile Weiss enjoyed a long tenure as drummer for the indie rock legends Sleater-Kinney, and also volunteered her musical prowess to a handful of other outfits. During all of this Quasi endured, and continued to juxtapose hauntingly beautiful melodies with biting social criticism and tales of irony. With their signature distorted organ and heavy hitting drum sound they continue to create obscure gems capable of melting hearts and minds alike.

The Poisoned Well

Before the Issaquah, Washington three-piece morphed into the peppy dance rock hipsters whose songs were featured on children's albums, Modest Mouse made a few of the most delicious teenage geek punk albums of all time. While the roots of Float On were evident in their earliest recordings, during the 1990s Modest Mouse were making some of the most sonically dense, urgent-yet-vulnerable, and brilliantly clever music of the decade. While their youth came through in their energy and sense of humor, their songs were also imbued with a wisdom and cynicism far beyond their years. In 1997, five years after they had formed, Modest Mouse released a collection of rarities that marked the end of their early sound, then went on to moderate mainstream success over the next decade with more polished material and a larger lineup that featured Johnny Marr of The Smiths on guitar. However the two EPs, three full-length albums, and rarities collection from their early career in the 1990s are a testament to not just the brilliance of Modest Mouse, but the diversity of musical genius spawned in the Cascades at the end of the 20th century.

Polar Opposites

Caustic Resin was the primary musical outlet for Brett Netson, who was one third of the original Built To Spill lineup, and continued to play an important role for years as an unofficial member of that band. Meanwhile he was crafting musical tomes of thunderous psychedelia far dirtier and more chaotic than any of his Boise colleagues. After several albums full of trippy noise rock filled out with extended jams, Caustic Resin found themselves exploring more accessible ground on The Medicine Is All Gone, and the continued delving into new sounds on future releases while staying true to the low end assault and wailing guitars that formed the band's backbone. In 2003 the band dissolved, and except for a reunion show in 2014, have remained inactive. Brett Netson played briefly with Earth, a long-running band formed by Dylan Carlson, who had infamously been Kurt Cobain's best friend and mutual enabler.

Hate In Your...

Taking their name from a Seattle phone number to tattle on carpool lane abusers, 764-HERO were originally active from 1995 to 2002. They began as a guitar and drum duo, but soon expanded into a trio with the addition of a bass player. They wrote wistful tunes with enough pop sensibility to suffuse the gloom with catchy hooks and memorable melodies. Having developed their sound and drawing critical praise in the 1990s, as well as building an audience by contributing to split singles with Modest Mouse and Red Stars Theory, they marched confidently into the new century. However their second album of that decade was panned by critics, and the band fell apart suddenly. The members went on to form new projects and had a couple of reunions in the 2010s, but there doesn't seem to be a future for the band whose sound so perfectly imitated the somber mood of the sun-deprived Emerald City.

You Were The Long Way Home

These early emo pioneers received a brief moment of mainstream attention when Dave Grohl pilfered two members to become the rhythm section for the Foo Fighters, but have still not received the recognition they deserve for the cathartic punk rock epics they wrote during their splintered career. Formed in 1992, while teenage angst was the musical theme of the moment, Sunny Day Real Estate wrote rollicking tunes descended from hardcore punk rock roots with lyrical motifs of loneliness, isolation, depression and longing. Heavy and heartfelt, with hooks that were off the chart, the Seattle four piece lasted two albums before their first break up. However their first return was triumphant, and their third album is one of the most soulful collections of songs ever written. Unfortunately they broke up again a few years later, and attempts to reunite and record new music have been painfully unsuccessful. Perhaps the most evocative aspect of their work are the achingly beautiful vocals of humble and unassuming front man Jeremy Enigk.

How It Feels To Be Something On

If Insanely Over-Caffeinated Teenagers was a genre, then Kill All Redneck Pricks were by far its most talented contributors. From 1990 to 1998 they released albums of full-throttle punk rock anthems that take sonic intensity to unprecedented levels. Unlike other similar bands, KARP also had an ear for playful melodies and implanted their songs with cheeky lyrics full of in-jokes and pop culture references. They even co-opted the Joe Walsh lyric, "My Maserati goes 185, I lost my license, now I can't drive," in a manner somehow even more ridiculous than the original. Yet after nearly a decade of revved-up irreverent rock, the band broke up, and reunion hopes were dashed when drummer Scott Jernigan died in a 2002 boating accident. Bassist Jared Warren went on to form Big Business, who share many musical similarities to KARP, and briefly acted as touring backup band for grunge-inspiring legends The Melvins.

Bacon Industry

Formed by Brett Nelson, also a Built To Spill alumni, but not to be confused with Brett Netson, Butterfly Train traded the dominance of six string guitars for two bass players. In their short career they wrote songs so full of desperation and pain that after listening to them you wanted to go immediately beat up everyone who ever hurt them. However the bands tenure was brief, lasting only two albums over the course of a few years. Besides his Built To Spill duties, Nelson went on to form several other projects, and is still a highly active musician in the Boise, Idaho music scene. It is incredibly unlikely that Butterfly Train will ever reform, but their existence is a testament to the fluidity of the Pacific Northwest music scene, which encourages musicians towards experimentation over longevity.

In Memory Of

We will never know if the grunge explosion prevented The Gits from receiving wider attention given that singer Mia Zapata was tragically and senselessly murdered by her rapist just as they were poised to make their breakthrough. The Gits formed in 1986 in Yellow Springs, Ohio - before collectively moving to Seattle to advance their musical career. Once there they formed a dedicated fan base, with Mia acting as a central character in the local music scene. She had a soulful voice akin to Janis Joplin, which soared over energetic pop punk tunes that get easily stuck in your head. The band recorded two full length albums, as well as numerous EPs, singles and contributions to various compilations. Major label interest was growing when their career was ended by a grotesque crime that took nearly a decade to solve. Remaining band members have moved onto other projects, but have occasionally paid tribute to their slain singer with reunion shows featuring musical luminaries like Joan Jett.

Seaweed