For all the music that came out in the 90s, there’s very little that delivered some truly unique guitar playing. The Bends took an angular, skronky approach to the instrument, and the drums were so different from all the PJ and Soundgarden I was listening to — Selway not at all trying to impress the listener with power or agility.
The combination was something that sounded damaged, but also futuristic. They’d obviously explore those ideas much more fully in future albums, but it’s a pretty astonishing record for a traditional rock setup. Guitar tones and chord changes that were so antithetical to everything else going on at the time.