All it takes to destroy grunge rock is to play ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in a major chord

TwitterFacebook

When Nirvana put out “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, it became one of the defining songs of a decade and an anthem for disaffected Generation Xers everywhere. 

And now, 27 years later, one key change has completely destroyed it.

Sleep Good, a musician from Austin, Texas, took Nirvana’s classic song, and remixed it all in a major chord. The effect is striking. Instead of the moody, rage-filled hit, it sounds like a song off of Weezer’s recent albums. It sounds like something from New Found Glory. It sounds… disturbing. 

It was a cold thing for Sleep Good to just drop this video on Vimeo, with a description that only says, “a pop punk band from La Jolla, CA,” and then peace out without any further explanation or solace. Sleep Good single-handedly unlaced everything we remember about our fuzzy early years and replaced it with the sounds of a mid-2000s MTV beach party.  Read more…

More about Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Key Change, Sleep Good, and Culture