What propelled Nirvana out of the underground into stores monitored by SoundScan wasn’t
Butch Vig’s glossy, radio-friendly production. It wasn’t even Samuel Bayer’s visually catchy “Smells Like Teen Spirit” MTV video, with the band, moshing fans and anarchy-symbol-wearing varsity cheerleaders disrupting a high school pep rally. It was
Kurt Cobain’s ‘60s-pop-radio-bred compositional smarts, which sliced through the wall-of-filth guitars like a chainsaw aimed at a stack of Kleenex. Having a monster drummer in
Dave Grohl helped, as did Cobain’s uncanny ability to scream on pitch. But his songs perfectly captured the ennui and frustrations of the entire latch-key-kid generation entering their early 20s. They ensured Nirvana went mega. However, a quick scan of many of
SIGNATURE MOVE: Kurt Bloch is this long-running Seattle punk-pop outfitâs secret weaponâwriting the songs, producing and playing flashy, melodic lead guitar. He and bandmates
Kim Warnick and
Deep Purple-esque hard rock. So he occasionally seasoned
Fastbacksâ hooky bombast with
Van Halen-esque widdly-widdlys and wang-bar divebombs. Gear-wise, he didnât have a trademark guitar or amp. He tends to like GibsonsâLes Paul Jrs., SGs, Sg Juniors and various Les Pauls. Amp-wise, heâs used 50-watt Marshalls, Peavey 5150s and Fender Prosonics. âAs long as it can sing the solos, then itâs a good guitar/amp combination,â he told Alternative Press.