Eddie Vedder made me laugh
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2022 1:26 pm
In a rare and candid interview with the New York Times ahead of his third solo album Earthling, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder spoke on a range of subjects, including what 'ripples' of change he believes the Generation X / alternative rock culture of the early '90s may have caused.
"You know, I used to work in San Diego loading gear at a club," Vedder begins. "I’d end up being at shows that I wouldn’t have chosen to go to — bands that monopolised late-’80s MTV. The metal bands that — I’m trying to be nice — I despised. Girls, Girls, Girls and Mötley Crüe: [expletive] you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.
"Guns N’ Roses came out and, thank God, at least had some teeth. But I’m circling back to say that one thing that I appreciated was that in Seattle and the alternative crowd, the girls could wear their combat boots and sweaters, and their hair looked like Cat Power’s and not Heather Locklear’s — nothing against her. They weren’t selling themselves short. They could have an opinion and be respected. I think that’s a change that lasted. It sounds so trite, but before then it was bustiers. The only person who wore a bustier in the ’90s that I could appreciate was Perry Farrell."