Photo by Sam Holden

Grunge survivor Mark Lanegan.

With Saint Kurt gone for 18 years now, it's important to remember grunge wasn't just Nirvana. It was a movement, and though each year it seems a little bit sillier than it did the last, it was important. Most of the bands (and sadly many of the people themselves) didn't stand the test of time, some did and many of those songs are still as enjoyable to listen to now as they were then -- maybe even moreso now that they're a bit easier to hear above the din of down-tuned, sludge-filled rock that permeated everything for a few years in there.

Mark Lanegan comes to the Cedar tonight as one of the few still-vital survivors from the grunge era, operating at a high creative level and winning new fans that don't view him through a lens of diffused, detached irony, as often happens when a genre is "rediscovered." In honor of Lanegan's return -- and it should be noted that his old band, Screaming Trees, made this list and is still very much listenable -- here are ten grunge-era songs that are still just as good now as they were then.

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​It's between suntan and sunstroke in Austin most of the year, and right now it's just slightly cooler, damaging only the freckle-prone. It's weather to wear as little as physically possible in, but the far-flung guests of SXSW's Gruyère fondue didn't get the message.
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Nikki Miller for City Pages

​Shaggy 2 Dope misdirects the crowd so he can go take a leak.
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Here at Gimme Noise, our offices are choked with promotional CD's. Like corpses on the Ganges, they drift into our mailboxes, bloating our shelves, our desk drawers, and, ultimately, our trash bins.

On their long journey from the factory to the landfill, the occasional disc gets plucked from the pile for a morbidly curious listen. It seems only fair to those thousands upon thousands of unknown soldiers, who will spend unknown centuries decomposing in unmarked mass graves.

This week's lucky disc was the official soundtrack to The Clique, an upcoming straight-to-video film about teen girls in an upper crust prep school. In a fit of journalistic speculation that would make Studs Terkel fart in his grave, Gimme Noise has formed what seems the only likely plot synopsis for the film, based entirely on a single spin of the sound track. So, ever unfettered by the limits of good taste, Gimme Noise presents The Clique: An imagined synopsis.

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This just in, from my magical bag of letters to the music editor:

I have a tween-age daughter (12) who is looking for a safe, age-appropriate venue to experience live music and dance in the Twin Cities (ok, she is looking for music and dance, I am looking for safe and age-appropriate). I know that places like the Triple Rock have all ages shows, but are they intended for an older audience? Any info you could provide would be helpful. Thanks!

Maja
St. Paul, MN

This is a great question, and one that I hear quite frequently. My suggestions for music loving tweens and teens seeking live music options are after the jump.

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