You're right of course, K, and I'll admit to having taken some liberties in the use of the G word...but I think the remarkable thing about grunge was how the local (tiny, really) NW scene influenced pop and rock music dramatically for a number of years. You still hear it today, though I'm not so interested now.

So when I think of grunge I think, yes, of the growly-voiced chunky-guitared half speed minor chord music from the NorthWest, but also much of the rock and pop music that veered off its natural evolutionary path (for a little while anyway) to pay homage to the honesty and emotional punch that (initially) were fundamentally what made grunge compelling - both sonically, posturally, lyrically. In my mind, grunge "breaking" left enough room for bands like Pavement and Sebadoh to stay true to themselves and suddenly, perplexingly, get enough radio play to become mini pop stars...again, for a little while anyway.

Nevertheless, I was a good boy and didn't list Pavement as a favourite grunge band, because I don't think they have enough of the sonic elements. All of the ones I suggested, in my view, heard grunge and said "ah, that's cool, let's sound a bit like that" (I was guilty of this with my own band).

And I chose that particular Catherine Wheel record because I remember it sounding different, not shoegazer-esque like Chrome, but more poppy, more loud-quiet etc. I may be wrong...it's happened before...