Hype! is an 80 minutes documentary on the Seattle grunge scene and provides an insight into the history of Grunge and its effect on the music industry which was exploited by the media in a positive and a negative way. Grunge became a rage in the U.S and the whole industry wanted to know more about this new sound. Credit is largely due to Nirvana's all time classic ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ which one could say was the foundation for grunge.

Done partially in a chronological setting, the camera pans over the funny side of grunge, but at the same time giving due respect to the music wherever required. The Seattle scene which got the tag of ‘New Grunge City’ had over 1000 bands, and was considered the coolest place in the universe. The bands used to regularly visit record companies, sometimes 3 to 4 bands knocking a week. The film takes in some witty interviews with band members, record execs, and Seattle music fanatics, most of it told by people who actually lived in Seattle. The interviews are something you must listen to carefully, especially the one with Sub pop founders - Jonthan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt. It also shows the bands that made it to the top and those that didn’t. There are scores of live clips, rare recordings that also support the myth that prove that the Seattle Sound didn't begin with Nirvana or end with Soundgarden. Hear about the tragedy surrounding Kurt Cobain and deceased Mother Love Bone singer Andy Wood.

This film features interviews and performance footage of Seattle musicians (both famous and unknown); Thus you have concert footage, debut performances which also include the 1st-ever live performance of Nirvana's ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’. Also rare footage by Soundgarden, Mudhoney, The Melvins, Blood Circus, Coffin Break, Crackerbash, Dead Moon, Fastbacks, Flop, Gas Huffer, Gits, Hammerbox, Love Battery, Mono Men, The Posies, Seaweed, 7 Year Bitch, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Supersuckers, Young Fresh Fellows, and Zipgun, all in full screen 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. However a considerable effort has done to remaster the old videos, so at times the gigs are grainy, more due to the fact that these are old videos remastered digitally for the film. The same would also go for a few audio segments. This is surely excusable

Most of these bands really never made it big, but it’s a treat to watch their antics. Fashion was in the in thing for Grunge. Shoes, sweaters and earrings, not forgetting the long hair, the leather jackets and the pants which all went into making grunge not just a sound, but rather a culture. There were wailing guitars, heavy vocals and drumming that is to be seen to be believed. The main aim for all these people was not the money, but to make music they enjoyed, and then play a few live shows. The lucky few got a tour contract and what’s more the even luckier got an album deal. The big names would obviously be bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains among others. They had the girls going after them, as they themselves looked a lot like the boys next door, simpletons but with a lot of spunk.

Directed by Dough Pray, this film was showcased at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in New York City. This documentary took about 3-1/2 years to complete and is a compact and well captured account of Seattle's grunge music scene, from its origins in the basements of young musicians in the 1980s, to its worldwide popularity in the early 1990s. The little sleepy village once upon a time, has now a new look. We can conclude that if England had punk, Seattle had grunge.

Rating: ***

-- Reviewed by Verus Ferreira