Music

90s Alternative Summer Playlist

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| 311, alternative, Blind Melon, Collective Soul, Everclear, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Incubus, Music, nineties music, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Semisonic, Smashing Pumpkins, Sublime, The Breeders, Third Eye Blind, Weezer

Ashley Hawkins |

June 25, 2014 | 11:21 a.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Why did this style fall out of fashion? (Photo via tnbd.wordpress.com)

Ahhh, the nineties. From Sisqó’s “Thong Song” to “Miami” by Will Smith to Aqua’s infamous “Barbie Girl,” the nineties offered some classically horrible summer jams. It seems as though pop music was somehow even worse back then than it is now – what a feat.

But, despite the garbage that made it onto the airwaves (need I remind you that “Ice Ice Baby” was the first hip hop song to top the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990), the nineties also saw alternative music cross into the mainstream, and thank goodness for that. While nineties alternative – in particular, grunge – is typically characterized by gloomy lyrics and flannel, it also captured the spirit of summer: romance, adventure, liveliness, innocence, nostalgia, lightheartedness, and, of course, rebellion.

So, if you want to kick it old school to get in the summer spirit, here is the playlist you need:

“Doin’ Time” by Sublime