THOUGHTS ON PUNGE

As the resident Seattle guy, I must add a bit: the tough, dissonant, punk rock/pop/big fat guitar sound was and is very Puget Sound.

There is so much, and it is not possible to keep up on it. A part of the ethos would be a desire for honesty. The Screaming Trees bowed to no one in terms of energetic sadness and perception, combined with a fat, bittersweet guitar sound (I've forgotten the name of their perfect album, which from your description fits well, from 1991) . Back in the day, Gang of Four hit a note of cool, righteous anger, and even Billy Bragg, when he's not lyrically bogged.

Much more recently, even dare I say currently, I've been suckered in by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, in spite of some MTV success. Intense power and vulnerability. (Also, the singer is very very sexy in a lower east side 1987 kind of way) And Lloyd, if you haven't check out KEXP from seattle (www.kexp.org), you must do so now. At least 1/3 of their excellent, grown-up grunge playlist qualifies.