With the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind, writers and social critics are clamoring to pen articles of relevance to grunge/counterculture history. The August 2011 issue of SPIN Magazine includes the best and brightest of alternative rock relating their tales of what the album meant to them back in 1991. So naturally, I thought I might jump on the bandwagon.
In 1991 rock was virtually nonexistent and inaccessible to the public. It was the unofficial death of Heavy Metal and the advent of Pop garbage such as Paula Abdul, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. I was ten years old and going through my Vanilla Ice phase. The only radio station that mattered to me was Z-100, which was only concerned with top 40 hits. Needless to say, alternative rock had scarce outlets to promote its new acts, with New York being the Pop/dance music capital of the world. I didn't have an inkling of knowledge about Nirvana until early 1992, when a Nevermind poster caught my eye with its infamous naked infant submerged in a pool swimming after a dollar bill. Even still I didn't buy Nevermind as I was a jewboy interested in rap music. Until 1995, when I got sick of the hip-hop world and simultaneously bought Nevermind and In Utero as I was well into my teens and picked up an electric guitar for the first time. Even after Kurt's demise, it opened up my mind to the countercultural aspect of life crucial to my development as an activist and as a human being.
Even now in 2011, I still cling to 90's era politics, music and social commentary for a glimmer of hope that even during a time where music and pop-culture have been obscured by pro-aristocracy, pro-Fashion Industrial Complex in-your-face sloganeering, there are still buds and blossoms of counterculture activity that are still in the birthing stage. It seemed impossible in 1991, during papa Bush's administration when the majority of Americans were rooting for our troops to get Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. And it seems impossible now, with two wars raging in the middle east and a third one added to the list in Libya by our wonderful Democrat president, all the while with the majority of our country being complacent. Yet there is always an underground culture yearning to burst out into the mainstream and topple the topless Lady Gaga. Only question is, where do we look for such a movement?
Forget the hipsters and their mecca, Williamsburg. Some arrogantly boast and confirm that the hipsters are the new Hippies. And some claim that hipsterdom is a hotbed of radical activity itching towards a modern day revolution. These arbiters of White Upper-Middle Class TRASH could not be any more wrong. Find me one hipster who does not fawn over Barack Obama's pseudo-intelligence, and I'll sell you the Empire State Building. And give me one indie rock band that doesn't find itself in complete adoration of societal abominations. They are a far cry from hippies, and they are even more far removed from the grunge era. How could you possibly build a countercultural movement on drowsy, Thorazine laden bands such as Deathcab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket? I once encountered a hipster so obsessed with his self-important image that he considered wearing an Operation Desert Storm t-shirt an expression of hipster irony. I parody these cretins in my idea for a faux-indie rock group called Deafening Aesthetic. Trying to fit in tight jeans is easier than trying to fit in in hipster circles.
One day, this mess will clear itself up. And rest assured, one day, hopefully soon, the countercultural sun will shine with brand new ideas on how to deconstruct society. Until that happens, I'll be humming along with The Strokes, asking the question "Is This It?" TO THE BATCAVE, ROBIN!
