Drewography – 90s alternative rock stuff

’00s Alternative Rock Songs You Forgot

The 2000s, a decade often maligned in the annals of music history, stands in the shadow of its more illustrious predecessors. It didn’t have the seismic cultural shifts of the 60s, the rebellious punk energy of the 70s, or the raw grunge angst of the 90s.

The 00s seemed somewhat adrift on the ocean of musical creativity.

As a product of the Guns N’ Roses era, who had embraced grunge with arms wide open, I found myself at sea, searching for the next big thing and resenting the tempo of dance music and the din of auto-tune.

The start of the new century was inundated with headlines decrying the death of rock, and seemingly, the world succumbed to the funeral dirges.

Yet, the heart of rock never stopped beating, it was just pulsing quietly (or not so quietly!) in the songs of artists who were still crafting melodies, transmitting to us about love, life, and everything in between.

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Echoes of Emo: A Sunny Day Real Estate Retrospective

By Drew Rosen Leave a Comment

It was 1995. Or was it 1994?

I surveyed the room, angered by the sea of middle-aged music journalists opting to stand around in their horn-rimmed glasses while Sunny Day Real Estate brought their blend of Midwest emo to a few hundred of us at the Knitting Factory.

My buddy and I had waited what seemed like forever to see our favorite band in the Big Apple, and there was no way in hell that these scruffy and stiff “adults” were going to stop us from dancing our balls off.

So we moshed.

And slammed.

It was a pit of two, nowhere near enough elbows and knees flying in the air to sustain the momentum.

We were asked to stop nicely.

We were asked to stop not so nicely.

We were threatened to stop.

After the show, on the E train back to Queens, we talked about our disappointment in the crowd.

“That will NEVER be me,” the 18-year-old me declared.

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Forgotten 90s Alternative Rock Songs – Part II

By Drew Rosen Leave a Comment

When I brain-dumped some of my favorite forgotten 90s alternative rock songs, I never expected to receive so much love. But I should have known better: Gen X will never let the tunes that defined us die. In the spirit of keeping page load times in Google’s good graces, I present Forgotten 90s Alternative Rock Songs: PART II. Check out Part I here.

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Jimmy Eat World = Genre-Busting Sweetness

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It should be no surprise that the guy who loved Toad the Wet Sprocket and worshipped Sunny Day Real Estate fell in love with a band named Jimmy Eat World. But, hey, I love the Goo Goo Dolls, too. I guess I have a thing for verbose band names.

My first exposure to Jimmy Eat World came at the hands of Jerry Rubino, a part-time jock at the local radio station where I interned. He seemed older than most of the radio station employees and was probably no older than the age I am as I write this post.

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Grave Dancers Union: Unite and Fight!

By Drew Rosen Leave a Comment

Find me a better band name than Soul Asylum and a more extraordinary album title than “Grave Dancers Union.” Go ahead; I’ll wait.

The 80s act that blossomed into a 90s alternative rock force held significant influence over droves of Gen Xers, even if Soul Asylum is not as cool to reference as Nirvana, Peral Jam, Blind Melon…or any other of their chart-sharing counterparts. Soul Asylum’s hit single “Runaway Train” was a massive success, reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy for Best Rock Song.

And perhaps that was the problem.

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Tales From a Recovering Sneaker Addict

By Drew Rosen Leave a Comment

They say you always remember your first.

For me, it was the Nike Air Max 90 that started it all.

We were somewhere in Manhattan. Perhaps along 9th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen.

The storefront was small, but the window display blew my 13-year-old mind: Dozens of pairs of shrink-wrapped sneakers, each emblazed with a neon sticker boasting a monstrous price reduction. These sneakers were begging to be bought, and I wanted each and every pair. A sneaker addict was born.

As I gazed into the window, aware for the first time that sneakers could be cool, my parents must have seen something illuminate inside my soul. We entered. Every fiber of my being told me this was my chance, an opportunity to finally own a coveted pair of high-end sneakers, which until this point, my parents had shielded me from.

But who were they protecting? Me from the absurdity of material objects or themselves from financial hardship?

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