Sup Pop is well-known for unabashed self-promotion and grandiose overstatement. Thing is, most of that (tongue-in-cheek) hyperbole is deserved. The much-touted reunion of Green River, one of the label's first signees, was no different. It truly was the highlight of Sub Pop's two-day 20th birthday bash. From the moment Green River—drummer Alex Shumway, guitarists Steve Turner, Stone Gossard, and Bruce Fairweather, bassist Jeff Ament, and frontman Mark Arm—took the stage, the crowd (packed tight and......

Without Green River in 1984, there might be no Sub Pop Records today. Without Sub Pop in 1987, there might be no Mudhoney—or even Pearl Jam—in 2008. (Green River begat Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone; MLB begat PJ.) And without either in the 80s, there likely would have been no "Seattle Sound" explosion in the early 90s. Fortunately, the timing and location were right for both the post-punk-rock band—originally comprised of singer Mark Arm,......

Last month, in response to a push to "reconsider" old Mudhoney songs, we said that the band never made it big because they sounded more "rough and fuzzy" than the Big Four (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains). We said that singer Mark Arm's style--as well as the band's--was "not bad, just different." After witnessing Mudhoney's transcendent assault on El Corazon Friday night, we'd like to propose a reconsideration of the band itself.......

The Onion AV Club says Mudhoney's 1991 album Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is worth a re-listen. Say they:[EGBDF] came out two months before Nirvana's Nevermind—and in a sense, it's the Bizarro Nevermind ... Every Good Boy in hindsight sounds like the grunge that should've been: ratty, humble, punky, weird, and catchy without resorting to grunting machismo. Our resident grunge expert, Seattlest Clint, is in Chicago for "a wedding of people I've never met" (hey,......

In a few seasons, Seattle indie stalwart Sub Pop will shed its adolescent husk and turn 20. Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, the dudes who put Soundgarden and Nirvana in bins before major label reps stormed Seattle, will, according to this bio, celebrate "as conspicuously as they can manage." As well they should. They were the fuse to said bands’ (and others’) genre-birthing TNT, after all. And though maybe not as globally revered since the......

It looks like a couple of the kids will be getting together this weekend at Linda's to raise money for Teen Dance Ordinance foe and friend of the music scene, City Council member Richard Conlin. Check it out; it's a Rock Star Bake Sale. Local music types from your favorite bands such as U.S.E., IQU, The Catch, Mountain Con, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Brad, and others (notably, John Wesley Harding) will be contributing......