3 Iconic Seattle Rock Songs Released Post-Grunge

In the late 1980s and 1990s, grunge was king of the rock world. Music executives flocked to the Pacific Northwest—and, specifically, Seattle—to descend on the music scene, trying to decipher just what was the secret sauce that made the city so successful. But after the death of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain in 1994, things began to go downhill.

It took years for both rock and Seattle to recover but recover both did. Here below, we wanted to explore three songs written by Seattle-based bands that took off like a shot after the grunge wave had crested. A trio of tracks that put Seattle back on the map. Indeed, these are three iconic Seattle rock songs released post-grunge.

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“Float On” by Modest Mouse from Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)

You might think the cerebral group Death Cab for Cutie would top this list but it was Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard, speaking about the subject in this new book, who said that it was Modest Mouse who helped the Seattle area recover post-grunge. Yes, it was the guttural rock group Modest Mouse that brought the region back to its weird, even uncool roots, Gibbard said. And with the band’s breakout hit “Float On,” which was written by lead singer Isaac Brock intentionally as a positive track, Modest Mouse helped everyone feel a little better about things. Sings Brock on the track,

I backed my car into a cop car the other day

Well, he just drove off, sometimes life’s okay

I ran my mouth off a bit too much, oh, what did I say?

Well, you just laughed it off, it was all okay

And we’ll all float on, okay

And we’ll all float on, okay

And we’ll all float on, okay

And we’ll all float on anyway, well

“Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service from Give Up (2023)

Along with Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard co-founded the electronic group rock group The Postal Service, which released its sole LP, Give Up in 2023. With it came the massive hit song “Such Great Heights.” Soaring on the wing’s of Gibbard’s iconic falsetto voice, the thoughtful, even poetic song has continued to make an impact on the music scene today, from playlists to commercials and television shows. Sings Gibbard on the tune,

I am thinking it’s a sign

That the freckles in our eyes

Are mirror images

And when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned

And I have to speculate

That God Himself did make

Us into corresponding shapes

Like puzzle pieces from the clay

“The Funeral” by Band of Horses from Everything All the Time (2006)

A more mellow offering, this song from Band of Horses skies thanks to lead singer Ben Bridwell’s sky-scraping voice. The debut single from the band’s debut LP, the song pierces your soul with emotive melodies and harmonies. This song, along with a handful of others, helped to usher in a new wave of alternative rock. Part-stadium rocker, part-internal dialogue. And on it, Bridwell sings,

Really too late to call, so we wait for

Morning to wake you, is all we got

And to know me as hardly golden

Is to know me all wrong, they warn

At every occasion, I’ll be ready for the funeral

At every occasion, once more, it’s called the funeral

At every occasion, oh, I’m ready for the funeral

At every occasion, oh, one billion day funeral

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