at first glance, you’d swear it was nirvana.

on a fine spring day in april 1994, i was playing in the basement when my sister ran downstairs to tell me kurt cobain had died. i asked the first and most obvious question: “who the fuck is kurt cobain?”

up until this point, i only listened to the capital steps and show tunes, but in the months and years to follow, i found a style of music that both described what i was feeling as a lonely youth, and the crud festering in the rain gutters. bands everywhere from la to england were coming out with their take on the seattle sound. and a strange thing followed: this “alternative” music was suddenly becoming mainsteam. then came a gleam of hope from down under…

a 16-year-old australian who looked just like kurt cobain released an album with his two friends. could this kid be the next kurt? could this trio be the next nirvana? could this be the beginning of a new wave of grunge music?

no, no, and no. it wasn’t.