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As far as I understood, a good chunk of the music of the venerable Gen X bands was constructed as a reaction to the overblown 'Rock Stars' of the 80's. Soundgarden summarized this quite succinctly in 'Jesus Christ Pose'. The Gen X alt-rock consortium that had a great deal of success in the early 90's were very much an outgrowth of the independent music of the 80's, who were in turn very influenced by punk and its ilk, and its DIY/anti-establishment bent. A great case-study in this, especially in contrast to the more sensationalized story of Nirvana, comes from a band like Pavement.