This review is part of a series looking back at significant albums on their anniversaries. Through the benefit of hindsight we will be viewing the album not just as it was released, but how it stands the test of time, as well as its place in the band’s discography and the genre in general.
DGC Records – 24 SEP 1991
On the 30th anniversary of a legendary album, we examine Nirvana’s masterpiece as a punk album.
The knee-jerk reaction from a punk rock mindset to an album that’s certified diamond and sits at or near the top of most lists of the “albums of all time” is to reject it out of hand. So there’s a certain part of me that wants to have nothing to do with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Nirvana‘s Nevermind. But here’s the thing: Nevermind was a punk album. You can deny it all you want, but the fact remains that the grunge movement was influenced by both punk and metal artists, Cobain and Grohl both came from punk bands, and Grohl frequently likes to refer to Nirvana as a punk band to this day. The title “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came from an inside joke between Kurt Cobain and his good friend, Bikini Kill frontwoman and riot grrl pioneer, Kathleen Hannah. Not just grunge, but the entire alternative rock movement that Nirvana ushered in was entirely based in punk influences. So instead of trashing it for being popular, let’s put the popularity and legend of Nevermind aside for a second, and let’s talk about Nevermind, the punk album.
Like most punk albums, Nevermind isn’t known for technical expertise. Nevermind is an incredibly easy album to play on the guitar, and I can attest to that as I never really developed a talent for guitar with my clumsy fingers but even I could easily play songs from this album. Hell, I know people who never even tried to learn to play an instrument who could at least play “Come As You Are.” It’s an entire album that’s barely more complicated to play than The Ramones‘ self-titled album, but, just as The Ramones still had a wide appeal because of their pop hooks and melodies, Nevermind succeeded because of pop hook and haunting, dark, brooding melodies. But that accessibility that makes Nevermind so easy to play is right in keeping with the punk rock ethos.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a punk song plain and simple, with its gnashing power chords. Kurt Cobain would often talk about this song being an intentional rip-off of a Pixies song, which makes sense since the Pixies were early pioneers of the alternative rock music, which, again, was heavily steeped in punk influences. Thus the legendary song is a simple chord pounder that uses the Pixies’ now famous loud-quiet-loud formula, although I don’t think Black Francis or Kim Deal would have been as screechy on the vocals (and this given that Black Francis was notorious for his high-pitched scream – ed.).
“In Bloom” is a slower trudge of a song than “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but still just as based in power chords. It sounds like a punk song that’s trying to run underwater. “Come As You Are” is the first song where there’s a little less focus on power chords, but the incredibly simple melody is unbelievably infectious. “Breed” is my favorite song on the album, a sort of anti-love song, with Cobain romancing a potential partner by promising not to burden them with traditional relationship roles. It’s a punk song both in lyrical themes and in its pummeling rhythm.
Okay, so “Polly” could have gone terribly wrong had it been written and performed by most male feminist allies, but there may never have been anyone in the history of the male gender who was as genuine of a feminist as Kurt Cobain. The most important part was that his feminism was distinctly non-performative. Cobain didn’t care if you knew he was a feminist or not, he just cared if you respected women. His views on race and LGBTQIA+ issues were pretty similar, and inclusivity and anti-bigotry are always punk rock. “Polly” is completely performed on an acoustic guitar but is clearly an acoustic punk song in that it’s based in just a few, simple chords. The lyrics take us into the sick mind of a rapist to see the speaker’s indifference towards other people’s suffering.
“Territorial Pissings” has a similar rhythm and energy to “Breed,” but with a little more whimsy, as bassist Krist Novoselic sarcastically and distortedly sings the chorus of The Youngbloods‘ song “Get Together” before taking off into manic punk insanity. “Stay Away” is another song with a mile-a-minute drumbeat that’s clearly punk rock at its core, all while some gorgeous power chords ring out over the rhythm. Closing track “Endless, Nameless” is a scatterbrained, experimental punk masterpiece.
So, on this, the 30th anniversary of Nevermind, let’s remember that this is the house that punk built, and that this wildly successful and widely influential album that, some argue, was the greatest album ever made, was first and foremost a punk album by a group of punks taking the genre to the next level. And sure they were grunge and alternative too, but those genres were offshoots of punk. That gets a little lost today now that the definition of “alternative rock” has become so all-inclusive as to render the term almost meaningless and the remnants of the 2000’s wave of post-grunge disasters still remain, but this is an album that every punk should be proud of. This album is ours and nobody can take that from us.
Julie is punk rock, lesbian time lady from the future. The greatest things in the world are punk rock and science fiction. Check out her website JulieRiver.com!
