Alternative Grab Bag V – Part 1

I was there in the early ‘90s- during the Red Hot Chili Peppers and grunge explosion- when the term “alternative” music entered pop culture as a catch-all marketing device for artists who did not fit the traditional molds. Once considered underground outsiders by the profit driven music industry, by the mid ‘90s alternative artists were calling the shots- on both sides of the Atlantic- and for awhile alternative seemed invincible with groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day, and Oasis carrying the torch and extending the genre’s reach to every corner of America- and the world. For the record, I prefer New England’s Sebadoh to Seattle’s Nirvana, and Glasgow’s Travis to Manchester’s Oasis. 

Travis

The alternative moniker also came to include artists who for decades had either been operating outside the mainstream or bending it to their will long before there ever was an alternative section in the record store. While not opposed to having fun, alternative artists are much more willing than their pop and rock contemporaries to explore darker, stranger themes and take chances which is really the only thing that pushes the boundaries in any art form. Here is some more of my favorite alternative including punk, new wave, post-punk, grunge, Britpop, ska revival, and indie/alternative. Enjoy the alternative!

X

01. X – “4th of July” (1987)

02. Shack – “Comedy” (1999)
03. Badly Drawn Boy – “The Shining” (2000)
04. Blondie – “Picture This” (1978)
05. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – “Rocket Man” (1997)
06. The Suburbs – “Love is the Law” (1984)
07. The Bouncing Souls – “Lean on Sheena” (2006)
08. Hole – “Heaven Tonight” (1998)
09. Yaz – “Only You” (1982)
10. Travis – “As You Are” (1999)
11. Travis – “Writing to Reach You” (1999)
12. Travis – “Sing” (2001)
13. The Specials – “Ghost Town” (1981)
14. Sebadoh – “Celebrate the Void” (2019)
15. The Divine Comedy – “At the Indie Disco” (2010)
16. Sebadoh – “Soul and Fire” (1993)
17. Sebadoh – “Skull” (1994)
18. Sebdaoh – “License to Confuse” (1994)
19. Sebadoh – “Magnet’s Coil” (1994)
20. Migala – “Your Star, Strangled” (2004)

Sebdaoh

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...