Grunge may have died when the first kid said, "Grunge's not dead," but 2011 is starting to really feel like the sub-genres 20-year-anniversary high school reunion. Hell, every kid in Williamsburg is wearing flannel again, and Dave Grohl has a freakin' number one album, which was produced by Nevermind producer Butch Vig! But best of all, long out-of-print seminal grunge documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke is being lovingly repackaged and released later this year, so you can relive every mosh pit from a magical time before Chris Cornell made albums with Timbaland.
The documentary follows Sonic Youth on their 1991 European tour, which included performances by just-on-the-cusp-of-megafame Nirvana (who were Sonic Youth's opening act!), Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney, Babes in Toyland, and The Ramones, among others. The film features lots of awkward-yet-sincere interviews with European fans, footage of the bands clowning around backstage, and a cement truckload of awesome performance footage. The new DVD will include a 42-minute film called (This Is Known As) The Blues Scale, which contains never before seen performances from Sonic Youth, Nirvana and others. If you haven't gotten your fill of Nirvana, head on over to the Experience Music Project in Seattle, which has a new exhibition celebrating the short-lived trios life in, "Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses." Below, you can check out a couple grainy videos from the documentary:
Opening of the film:
Sonic Youth performing "Teenage Riot":
Nirvana performing movie outtake "In Bloom":
