Before there was Soundgarden or Mudhoney or Alice in Chains, there was Skin Yard and Gruntruck, two late-80s-spawned bands that foretold and influenced Seattle's grunge phenomenon. Ben McMillan, who died here yesterday of complications stemming from diabetes, fronted both bands. He was 46. Seattlest wasn't fortunate enough to live here when McMillan's bands existed, but thanks to the magic of the internets, we can pretend, if only for a few minutes, that we were. This......

The Melody Unit's Kevin Kelly On a Life Spent in SeattleMusic, Why the Band Never Made It, and Why He's So Ambivalent AboutTheir Latest (Greatest) Album We were getting a little antsy sitting around Kai's Bistro in the U-District, because our interview subject, Kevin Kelly, the leader of the band The Melody Unit, seemed to be running late. Finally, a little confused, we stood up and held a copy of the band's last album, Songs......