Seattle Grunge

The spark came earlier than most accounts admit. Before anyone used the word grunge, before Sub Pop existed as a label, there was a four-track in a converted garage and a band called the Melvins playing Black Sabbath riffs at half speed. In 1984, when Black Flag rolled through small Pacific Northwest towns on tour, their set had mutated from Sex Pistols sprint to Black Sabbath dirge. Krist Novoselic went with the Melvins to see one of these shows. Afterward, Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne started writing slow, heavy riffs that became the template for what Seattle would sound like. The Melvins were the patient zero of grunge, even if they'd never claim the title.