- How does grunge differ from alternative rock?
- Grunge is the heaviest, most defeated corner of alternative rock, with defined geography and era attached to it. Alternative rock is far wider and can be bright or experimental. Grunge is relatively fixed: thick distortion, exhausted delivery, abrupt dynamic swings.
- How do I get that defeated quality in a prompt?
- Three levers. Tempo: "mid-tempo dragging, not urgent." Vocal: "rough, exhausted, untuned, breaking allowed." Mix: "dull tone, no pursuit of clean separation." All three together produce grunge; asking only for "heavy" gets you metal.
- What are the lyrics like?
- First-person self-doubt and weariness, in fragmentary lines with jumpy imagery, refusing to conclude or resolve. It does not indict the outside world so much as describe a dull ache inside, and that inward posture is what separates it from punk.
