3 Sub Pop Grunge Songs From the ’90s That Still Rock

Without the contributions and foresight of the Seattle-born record label Sub Pop, grunge music fans everywhere would be without much of their favorite songs.

Indeed, the grunge catalog would be closer to a barren wasteland than it would be the robust cornucopia of song that it is today without the formative label that has been “going out of business” ever since it was created in the late 1980s.

Below, we wanted to celebrate that fact. We wanted to highlight and showcase the seminal music hub that has given the world so many tracks and albums from artists like Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Mudhoney, along with other non-grunge bands like The Postal Service and Band of Horses.

At times small but often mighty, here is an ode to Sub Pop and three of its most enduring songs from the 1990s…

1. “Room a Thousand Years Wide” Soundgarden (Single, 1990)

Released at the dawn of the 1990s as a standalone single (though it was later re-recorded and re-released on the band’s 1991 LP, Badmotorfinger), this song has the distinction of being the first to feature the band’s then-new bassist Ben Shepherd, who replaced bassist and band co-founder Hiro Yamamoto. It is also one of the only Soundgarden songs not to feature creative input from lead vocalist and frontman Chris Cornell.

Its lyrics were penned by guitarist Kim Thayil, and the music was composed by drummer Matt Cameron. The result is heavy, thick grunge goodness no matter how you slice it.

2. “Dive” Nirvana (Single, 1990)

Another release from 1990, this track has the distinction of being part of the second-ever single released by the grunge group Nirvana. It was the B-side to the A-side “Sliver” and was also re-released on several compilations, including the band’s 1992 compilation, Incesticide.

On the track, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is at his best, growling infectious melodies and showing the growth between the group’s 1989 debut LP, Bleach, and their groundbreaking 1991 follow-up, Nevermind. The tune, which opens with a bassline from Krist Novoselic, is the rare sticky track from Nirvana that hasn’t been poured over ad nauseam.

3. “Shoot the Moon” Mudhoney from Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991)

In 1991, grunge band Mudhoney released their second studio album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, and the album’s 10th track was this propellant offering, “Shoot the Moon.”

Just as grunge fans owe a debt of gratitude to Sub Pop, they owe one to Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm, who practically invented the genre and gave a blueprint for its success to anyone who heard his music. On “Shoot the Moon,” he screams over deft, dirty, sludgy music and just generally rebels against any and everything. It’s splendid!