No one dared or wanted to admit it at the time, but Nü Metal and Grunge had quite a bit in common.

What’s my positional framework for this claim?

I’m making this claim from just the simple heavy-rock’n’roll perspective; I don’t even have to go to a global-southern perspective to say this.

In terms of the appearances, geographic origins, and the preferred foundational cultural elements of the bands associated with Grunge in the ’90s and with Nü Metal in the aughts (and late ’90s), most critics I was aware of, as well as I and the other music-obsessed people around me, saw these subgenres of heavy rock as utterly distinct. Perhaps this was because I had lived and continued to live in the PNW. It’s hard to imagine a Portlander in 2005 daring to say Korn and Gas Huffer were very alike in any way, musically or otherwise.

There was always SYSTEM OF A DOWN, whom no one could resist being in awe of, but they were seen as an exception. Here in the PNW, people tended to look down on Nü Metal. Perhaps we were still resentful that Melvins had not become a national phonemenon. (Perhaps most were glad Melvins didn’t inadvertently sell out, as all bands who happen to succeed and live long enough to enjoy it are said to have done.)

Imagine if Kurt hadn’t killed himself. But I digress.

I noticed this aural similarity most when a lesser-known band called The Union Underground became my obsession for a while in the mid-aughts. The artwork (the “aesthetic”) and the timing was pure Nü Metal. The sound, though, was not entirely so. If you ignored the release date and the artwork — few people can do this — it sounded like it came from the heyday of Grunge. What stood out to me musically was not drop-D tuning and a scattering of Hip Hop elements. This was much more closely an offspring of Pixies, Melvins, and Gruntruck than of Shootyz Groove, follow FOR NOW, and Ice-T.

I’m probably an aural purist. Many more people, in my experience, view music as a broader phenomenon. They see the outfits, hairstyles, cover art, and other forms of expression and identity, including ethnicity and lifestyle, as part of what makes an artist Punk and not Pop, Industrial and not Hip Hop. I’m thinking of Avril Lavigne and Consolidated, respectively. Starting with the latter, Consolidated has mostly been considered an Industrial act by fans and promoters. What they do in their music is to use samplers (I know this from meeting and talking to one of them outside the context of music) and to rap. It seems to me there’s some serious pigeonholing of Hip Hop by the industry (if not also the fans) when Eminem is part of Hip Hop without a doubt, but white guys who rap about veganism, feminism, and immigration while criticizing bullying, homophobia, and mysoginy over samples are labeled Industrial rockers, not Hip Hop MCs. If we were honest, we would at least, then, include PUBLIC ENEMY in the Industrial bucket. But no, it’s all about your race, not your lyrics, instruments, or style of music.

In the case of Avril Lavigne, I keep trying to find a song of hers that sounds like Punk Rock to me. It’s the same with the “punk idol” of my generation, Billy Idol. He sneers. He was in Generation X, who sang about drinking and stuff. He wears spikes and studs, maybe even a Mohawk. He must be punk, right?

Heck, I like several of his songs; I totally enjoy BLUE HIGHWAY, DAYTIME DRAMA, EYES WITHOUT A FACE, REBEL YELL, and CRADLE OF LOVE.

I just don’t think those songs have anything to do with Punk Rock the genre. And it’s not that I don’t count it if it’s not by Sex PisTOLS, X-Ray Spex, SUB HUM ANS, or CRASS. I’m happy to include The Stranglers, The Jam, and pre-Punk punky bands like The SONICS, DEATH, MC5, and New York Dolls (heck, Green Day, too) among what I consider “punk”… (though I draw the line at that blinky band).

And Punk Rock is an excellent example of how much lifestyle and philosophy matter. It could be a way to pursuade me that I’m wrong. I realize there’s more to punk than distortion, speed, and some sort of a British working-class accent, whether real or fake. Punk is DIY. Punk is community. Punk is—no, briefly was nonconformity. Videos of the very early days of punk reveal people in myriad creative DIY garb that reaches far beyond safety pins, fishnets, and dyed glued hair. You see sparkly dresses and garbage-bag dresses, both groups fully integrated with the earliest and less conspicuous users of safety pins—out of necessity, not fashion.

So… Did The Union Underground play any Grunge? I say they did, and to a notable extent. Did Billy Idol, Avril Lavigne, or Miley Cyrus make any Punk Rock? They probably did at some point, but I haven’t heard it yet. Are they punks? I don’t know. Since Fat Mike opened a punk museum in Vegas, it doesn’t even matter. Who would have thought LINKIN PARK would have the final word.

Anyway, what made me think of this stuff all over again was listening to VERMILIOIN PT. 2 on SlipknoT‘s awesome VOL. 3: (THE SUBLIMINAL VERSES). I don’t think that song counts as Metal of any kind except probably Grunge.