Green River
Come On Down

There has often been debate over the true or alleged existence of grunge: according to some, it is a real event, while for others, it is just another media gimmick. It is well known that labels, often arbitrary and limiting, are fodder for the media. However, one cannot deny that in the late 1980s and early 1990s a musical phenomenon took place in the Northwestern United States, particularly in Seattle, an artistic movement more than just a simple genre, which, although broad and heterogeneous, can be codified with a single definition. Willingly or unwillingly, the word chosen for this purpose is none other than "grunge." The artists associated with it, although often different from one another, share the aim of reviving an intense and expressionistic musicality, a spontaneous antithesis to the contemporary glam/hair metal trend and its superficial and party-like tones. The pioneers of this sound exploration are undoubtedly Green River, the undisputed founding fathers of the Seattle scene and I recommend skeptics and "unbelievers" to listen to "Come On Down" (1985), their debut, a six-song mini-album as raw and imperfect as it is important and seminal. Singer Mark Arm, guitarists Steve Turner and Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament, and drummer Alex Vincent are five young men with different setups and musical passions and with the common goal of merging them into one complex. That’s why in "Come On Down" coexist the scream and the revolt of white Detroit from the late '60s and its most illustrious offspring, punk, a hard rock muscularity often on the verge of metal, fleeting moments of dense and noisy psychedelia, and even some bass lines that wouldn’t displease some new wave groups. The sum of these stylistic elements results in a slightly fragmented and not always convincing outcome (the messy and slightly irritating Tunnel Of Love), but certainly original and unconventional. Just listen to the opening track Come On Down to realize it's not the same old stuff: a concise and granite-heavy riff over which a graceless, almost animalistic singing stands out, light-years away from certain vocal histrionics typical of hard and metal. "Pleasant" might not be the adjective that qualifies this EP, which, however, is rich in insights and sometimes doesn’t shy away from catchy melodies: listen to the boozy Swallow My Pride, which seems to come from the most exacerbated Sixties (the wah-wah guitar phrasing in the second chorus openly recalls Ron Asheton of the Stooges) and is undoubtedly the best song, even memorable.

Unfortunately, the times are not ripe enough for such experiments to be understood and "Come On Down" enjoys very modest success. It is, after all, difficult for everyone to appreciate such a stark and uncompromising record. However, with that punk-rooted careless attitude, with total indifference shown towards classifications and distinctions between genres, Green River gave not just a musical lesson to an entire generation of artists. They were innovators, regardless of the future careers of the members (Arm and Turner in Mudhoney, Ament and Gossard in Mother Love Bone and then Pearl Jam).