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# Back to the future: Why does Jewish grunge exist?
- URL: https://www.jewsrock.org/back-to-the-future-why-does-jewish-grunge-exist/
- Published: 2005-09-29T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-20T22:08:38.000Z
- Author: JewsRock
- Tags: Blog

*by Izzy Grinspan*

“Jewish music goes grunge,” the Forward announced last [week](http://www.forward.com/articles/3783?ref=jewsrock.org), introducing readers to the religious band Heedoosh. Listing the band’s influences as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Radiohead and Oasis, the article explained that Heedoosh is one of the first bands “to use the angry howl and bludgeoning sounds of grunge to put a novel spin on the traditional Jewish song.” While this is certainly a mark of distinction, it begs the question: where were these guys in 1992? The lead singer of Alice in Chains is dead. The lead singer of Nirvana is dead. Radiohead has been making art-rock for unhappy cyborgs for the past five years (arguably longer). And as for Oasis—well, I love singing “Wonderwall” in the shower, but that doesn’t mean the band is either grunge-related or—new album non-withstanding—terribly relevant.

Heedoosh is playing [Yidstock 65](http://www.yidstock.com/?ref=jewsrock.org) this Sunday, and a quick glance at the festival’s line-up reveals a similar time warp. Musicians compare themselves to Hendrix, to Santana, to Phish. Brooklyn band [Eden](http://www.yidstock.com/bands.htm?ref=jewsrock.org), who list their influences as Third Eye Blind, Tonic, and the Wallflowers, spell it out for us: they combine “the 90s modern rock sound” with Jewish music. In a way, this makes sense: these 90s rockers are playing a show called “Yidstock”. If the name tells us anything, it’s that this entire festival is looking over its shoulder at the past.

Maybe this is crotchety of me. Nobody asks Christian rock bands like Evanescence to be terribly with-it, after all. But I think it’s condescending to expect religious bands to be backwards just because they’re religious, especially when there are good, innovative musicians out there making Jewish music. See [Barbez](http://www.barbez.com/?ref=jewsrock.org), for example, who meld Eastern European klezmer with French melancholia and Weimer flair, and somehow cause the mish-mash to rock. Barbez are experimental but highly listenable, as long as you like chaos: [Pitchfork](http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/barbez/barbez.shtml?ref=jewsrock.org) called their sound “Satie melting into the Stooges.” That’s forward-looking, and I think it’s fair to ask other Jewish musicians to try to be as awesome.