by Anthony Hillman

Created on: February 03, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Out of all of the bands that came out of Seattle, only a few are household names. Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc. have become synonymous with teenage angst over the last 20 years. But it all started years before, in the early 80s where in the streets of Seattle, punk rock started to take hold.
One of the earliest bands in this scene were The Fartz, formed in 1981, consisting of Blaine Cook, guitarist Paul Solger whose first band - Solger - are generally considered to be Seattle's first hardcore punk band, bassist Steve Fart and drummer Duff McKagan. The Fartz were popular among the scene, but eventually split in 1982 with Paul and Duff (switching from drums to rhythm guitar) forming Ten Minute Warning. Filling in the vacant positions were Steve Varewolf, Greg Gilmore (who would later join Mother Love Bone) and David Garrigues.

This is where it gets interesting, as Ten Minute Warning switched from their hardcore punk sound, to a slower, dirtier, grinding riffage. Out of all of the bands in Seattle, Ten Minute Warning are the generally considered to be the first to make this change. What this means is that the trademark sound of the likes of Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Green River originated from Ten Minute Warning.
After making such an incredible impression on the local music scene, Ten Minute Warning eventually split in 1984, with Duff McKagan moving to Los Angeles. The following year, Duff joined a band as bass player in which he would finally find fame - Guns N' Roses. The years in Seattle's underground still shone through, as Guns N' Roses became well known for being a dirtier, punkier alternative to the hair bands that dominated LA at the time.
Upon leaving GN'R in 1997, Duff returned to Seattle and to his old friends that he'd left behind so long ago. Among them was Green River's Stone Gossard (who had since formed Mother Love Bone, before finding fame in Pearl Jam), who credits Ten Minute Warning with making him want to play guitar. It was Stone who kept on bugging the various members of the band for a reunion, which they eventually gave in to, recruiting Christopher Blue as vocalist in place of an "unavailable" Steve Varewolf.
It was at this time that they brought back their old songs and recorded their only album...

Considering these songs were all written in the early part of the 1980's, it's easy to see why Ten Minute Warning were so influential. The sound that is usually considered a benchmark of the early 1990's is clearly evident here. There is a definite

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