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Green River are arguably the first grunge band, forming around the same time as the rest of Seattle’s first wave. In 1985, they became the first grunge band to release a record, kick-starting the Seattle music scene and later helping to establish the Sub Pop label. However, Green River are even more famous for the bands that sprang from their breakup: Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone, the latter of which also contained the roots of Pearl Jam. That lineage somewhat overshadows Green River’s actual music, which helped lay out the blueprint for grunge but didn’t necessarily rank among its most transcendent expressions.

Green River specialized in a dirty, sludgy, gleefully ugly hybrid of punk, heavy metal, and bluesy hard rock, drawing from bands like the Stooges and Aerosmith in addition to the hardcore punk outfits where many of the members first cut their teeth. Its appeal tends to depend upon the depth of the listener’s interest in grunge, but regardless, the seeds of a revolution are certainly audible.

Green River was formed in Seattle in 1984, taking their name from the area’s notorious, then-recent serial killer (who wasn’t brought to justice until around two decades later). Lead vocalist/guitarist Mark Arm and guitarist Steve Turner had previously played together in the local hardcore bands Mr. Epp and the Limp Richerds, while drummer Alex Vincent (aka Alex Shumway) came from Spluii Numa and bassist Jeff Ament from Deranged Diction. Late in the year, second guitarist Stone Gossard — Turner’s onetime bandmate in the Ducky Boys — came onboard, allowing Arm to concentrate exclusively on singing. (Interestingly, Gossard, Turner and Vincent went to the same small highschool.)

Green River started playing local clubs, and in 1985 they recorded two tracks for the compilation album Deep Six, the inaugural release on local indie C/Z Records (it also featured early tracks by Soundgarden, the Melvins, Malfunkshun, and Skin Yard).

Later in 1985, Green River went into Ironwood Studios in Seattle to record their debut EP, Come On Down, for the Homestead label. Just prior to the release of Come On Down, Steve Turner left the band (reportedly over his distaste for its metal influences) and was replaced by Bruce Fairweather, who had played with Ament in Deranged Diction.

In the summer of 1986, the group recorded another EP, Dry as a Bone, in Seattle with producer Jack Endino; it was issued by Bruce Pavitt’s fledgling Sub Pop label in 1986. Green River subsequently began work on an eight-song mini-album for Sub Pop, which was released in early 1988 under the title Rehab Doll.

By the time it appeared, though, intra-band tensions had torn Green River apart, the band calling it quits in October of 1987. The central issue was commercialism: Gossard and Ament wanted to pursue a major-label deal, while Arm preferred to remain independent and record for Sub Pop. The final straw apparently stemmed from a gig in Los Angeles; Arm wanted to give his friends backstage passes, but found that Ament had reserved them all for A&R reps who never showed up.

Arm reunited with Turner to form the punkier Mudhoney. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather joined up with ex-Malfunkshun singer Andrew Wood in the glammier Mother Love Bone. Following Wood’s death from a heroin overdose, Gossard and Ament moved on to found the hugely successful Pearl Jam with vocalist Eddie Vedder. Fairweather, meanwhile, moved on to Love Battery and is presently playing with The Press Corps. Vincent left music to go to college in Japan, and has since returned to Seattle, is a stay at home father and drummer for The Zack Static Sect.

In July of 2008, all of the original members of Green River reunited for a show for the 20th anniversary of the inception of Sub Pop Records.