San Francisco

San Francisco's noise rock DNA runs through Flipper first — four guys playing slower than the hardcore they came out of, tuning down until the riffs sounded like accidents, turning 'we don't care' into a full aesthetic. Flipper's fingerprints are everywhere: Nirvana wore their shirts, Melvins covered them, every slow heavy band owes them a check. The SF scene kept going after — Chrome, Faith No More at the edges, Mr. Bungle, a thousand basement noise gigs at places like the Chameleon and Gilman. A scene that embraced weird and never looked back.