Chris Cornell, vocalist for "grunge" band Soundgarden, will be performing a show at Llewellyn Hall on December 3 to promote his latest album, Higher Truth.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Although the singer/songwriter has explored a more intimate creative expression on the solo records, some local fans will attend to experience a taste of the early to mid-1990s when alternative rock ruled the airwaves. Cornell's solo work is, however, more subdued than the detuned Black Sabbath-inspired riffs played by Soundgarden whenever the muse struck.
This contrast makes for a dynamic somewhat similar to that invoked by Led Zeppelin. On their 1970 album Led Zeppelin III acoustic songs inspired by the British folk revival of the 1960s sat alongside tough electric workouts like glorious track Celebration Day. But the comparison ends there because grunge is distinguished by an elemental rawness that has on occasion dirtied up the clean streets of Canberra.
Some of us can vividly recall the infamous Nirvana concert at the ANU Bar in February 1992 when over-excited indie kids arriving late to the sold out show ripped down a few doors and streamed into the venue. The atmosphere was electric on that occasion, the band less so, but what mattered was that popular culture had elevated an authentic voice of teen angst.
Within the primal scream of Nirvana's music, Gen X had found a home. Even more exciting was Mudhoney at the ANU in 1990 – the year before punk broke and Seattle noise took over the world. A small, yet enthused crowd had gathered to witness scuzzy garage rock from a band whose classic 1988 Sub Pop single Touch Me I'm Sick paved the way for Pacific Northwest king hitters Nirvana and Pearl Jam to kick those jams to the top of the charts.
Pity that Soundgarden have never performed in Canberra, as all those cutting low-end riffs would provide much sustenance for local music fans who like a bit of punk attitude with their bowel quaking noise. Soundgarden's 1994 album Superunknown (reissued in 2014) remains one of the standout recordings from that period with its emphasis on strong melodies and rhythmic and harmonic density.
Cornell's fifth solo album, Higher Truth, opts for melodies with a slightly warmer glow and concert goers can expect a taste of restraint with a noticeable absence of trifling props and theatrics – an approach consistent with the punk aesthetic and a good tip for modern day chart-topping divas in the Taylor Swift mould who struggle to deliver songs without bells and whistles and saturation coverage on social media.
A fellow music fan likened Cornell to a deity but I prefer to think of him simply as an all right dude – talented certainly, but basically one of us.