Inadvertently, Nirvana made themselves one of the faces of the 90s grunge scene, for better or worse. From a meteoric rise to mainstream success, to disillusionment with the whole rockstar situation, to eventually Kurt Cobain’s tragic suicide, Nirvana had a short but influential run. Here are three bands that have taken the grunge sound to new places, building off the foundation that Nirvana helped lay.
Whores
Whores formed in Atlanta in 2010 and built a small but mighty discography in that time. Their first EP, Ruiner, dropped in 2011, followed by the second, Clean, in 2013. A debut full-length, Gold, followed in 2016. The latest release came in 2024, titled War. Compared to Nirvana, Whores has all of the dirty, fuzzy noise of 90s grunge. It’s heavy while staying accessible, with all the explosiveness of Soundgarden and the charisma of a less-deserty Queens of the Stone Age. Their EPs remain among their biggest hits, with songs like “Fake Life” and “Baby Bird” featuring a curated chaos that sounds like one frayed vocal cord away from tipping over the edge. Whores stands up to Nirvana’s grunge texture, often creating something that sounds and feels like raw TV static.
Dead Poet Society
Dead Poet Society formed in Boston in 2013 and released four EPs between then and 2016. Their only two full-length albums dropped in 2021 and 2024, with the recent Fission landing the band some of their most popular hits. As far as Nirvana comparisons go, Dead Poet Society is definitely on the more polished end of the grunge spectrum. On Fission, they lean more towards heavy indie-rock than pure grunge noise. However, their earlier EPs and 2021 debut occasionally explore a looser sound, embracing mess. Still, when it comes to fuzzed-out or wall-of-sound guitars, Dead Poet Society is more likely to dabble in a more solid style. Frontman Jack Underkofler once described their sound as “djent pop,” a term for progressive metal-style guitar playing. Blending that with pop-like choruses, Dead Poet Society created a type of grunge that sounds like a shiny new nickel.
Bagdad
Hailing from Poland, alt-rock trio Bagdad formed in 2023 and released their debut EP, They Don’t Know, in March 2025. Their style hits a sweet spot between grunge and slowcore. It embraces the raw energy of Nirvana and blends it with the emotive soul of bands like Mazzy Star. Bagdad emulates Nirvana at their most polished, however purposeful. The track “Valley of Dry Bones” sounds like it could even be a B-side on In Utero. Their EP is a stripped-bare look at 21st-century grunge. They pull from iconic influences but released something that becomes entirely their own. Nothing is ever wholly unique or singular at this stage, with all art drawing influence from something else at some point in the process. But Bagdad makes their influences known while building something interesting. It’s in the trudging, slowcore guitar, and it’s in the vocal style that sounds like it came straight from Seattle, 1993.
Photo by Łukasz Gołąbek
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