The Dream of the 90’s is Alive with Gen Alpha
Posted by EastTXJosh@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 143 comments
I had to go to a function at my son’s school today. He’s a 7th grader. I saw students wearing t-shirts for Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine (the RATM shirt actually looked vintage)and kids wearing what appeared to be Jncos. Felt like I had stepped into a time machine.
Fabulous-South-9551@reddit
Gonna sound really dorky saying this but I bought a smashing pumpkins Mellon collie shirt at old navy for like $14 but I’m a real fan I promise!!
taita2004@reddit
Name 3 Smashing Pumpkins song!!!! 🤪
silver_ghost@reddit
To easy... Name 3 Smashing Pumpkins bass players!
novisimo@reddit
Now name the wrestling outfit that Billy runs (or ran)
arcenierin@reddit
"Into the ground"?
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
I only know 2 💀
FidgitForgotHisL-P@reddit
Fun thing I found just now: if you google it you get D’arcy and Mellisa, google also lists Billy lol, presumably because he was such a Billy Corgan about it all he didn’t let anyone else record any thing in the albums.
Soma2710@reddit
Going by that logic, then if Billy = Smashing Pumpkins, then Smashing Pumpkins = Zwan and therefore Paz played bass for Smashing Pumpkins, and Maynard was in Smashing Pumpkins with Paz and James Iha was in Tool with Twiggy while Marilyn Manson was the lead singer of The Vandals with Josh Freese and Troy Van Leeuwen from Queens of the Stone Age whose drummer at one point was also Dave Grohl who…oh no I’ve gone cross-eyed.
silver_ghost@reddit
I will also accept 3 musicians Billy has talked shit about.
PuzzleheadedAbies678@reddit
All of them
PuzzleheadedAbies678@reddit
And despite all his rage, he's still just a rat ina cage
Futant55@reddit
They stole my song!!!
msondo@reddit
Does Billy count since he recorded the bass on a lot of the earlier albums? lol
funatical@reddit
It does.
freshcard@reddit
Zerostar39@reddit
I say count it.
justpassingby_thanks@reddit
Seconded.
chadwickipedia@reddit
D’arcy is the only one that matters
Rust_Bucket37@reddit
Watching 'Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?' Episode with Melissa she didn't directly speak about bands she played in she was asked about her time performing in various bands and she makes reference without naming names to a band she was in where the lead singer was controlling and it seemed she didn't enjoy that time... probably just controlling Courtney.
_shaftpunk@reddit
Buddy Holly, Smells Like Teen Spirit and When I Come Around. Too easy.
dramatix01@reddit
Nailed it.
melophat@reddit
This is how I felt when I had to replace my original Nirvana shirt with a new one because the og one was literally worn to shreds.
decapitating_punch@reddit
i bought a Deftones White Pony tshirt at hot topic in my local mall… like 3 months ago lol
Jolly_Line@reddit
My 10yo wore their Metallic hot topic T for school picture day.
horceface@reddit
I have the actual concert tee. I can't wear it anymore without getting eye rolls. I guess I need to find some straight leg jeans and a flannel.
I have gifted my son literally hundreds of dollars worth of OG concert tees. He has my Zero shirt, several Phish shirts, a shortest straw Metallica shirt. He looks great in all of them. I look like a poser. 😔 At least he takes care of them better than I did.
chadwickipedia@reddit
I’ll be 40 next month and I started wearing band tees again. Got a strokes tee at old navy and recently got a 311 blue album tee for the 30th anniversary which is the same shirt I wore in 5th grade
toasterb@reddit
I got one there last year too.
It was a real old man moment: the edgy, mildly-subversive band I was obsessed with as a teenager has been reduced to featuring on faux vintage t-shirts in the most mainstream, milquetoast mega mart of clothes.
I’ve gotten so many compliments on it by fellow Xennials, and they all groan with discomfort when I tell them where i got it.
Fantastic-Act9247@reddit
lol seriously, its like the 90s are making a comeback or something
HratioRastapopulous@reddit
Oh snap! They’re selling those there right now?
Fabulous-South-9551@reddit
Yup!! $13.49. I got it online.
HratioRastapopulous@reddit
Well, looks like it’s time to visit an Old Navy for the first time since 2006
Thamnophis660@reddit
They selling those there now? I need to check that out
RaccoonObjective5674@reddit
I see that shirt on teens! I want one for myself! I’m not a poser! I was a hardcore fan in the mid-late 90’s!
BabymanC@reddit
They don’t know the songs. It’s just fashion.
darksideofmypoon@reddit
There’s always gonna be posers but I promise you many of these kids are obsessed with all kinds of music just like we were. Maybe even more so because they have the discography of the entire world at their fingertips.
Zuccherina@reddit
Why are you saying that? Middle schoolers are into Eminem. My son was blown away when I told him I already knew who that was.
TheGyattFather@reddit
But, they forgot about Dre...
Pita_Girl@reddit
My 5th grader challenges me to sing/rap Eminem’s songs. I’m like “Kid, I’m a 43 year old woman” I’m also like “Fill ‘em with the venom then eliminate ‘em other words I Minute Maid ‘em…” you should see their jaws drop! 😂 They have no idea how long some of this music’s been around.
ApprehensiveCycle741@reddit
No way, all the kids I encounter listen to the music.
My kids wear vintage Pearl Jam tees and are on the lookout for Nirvana, Hole, etc. They won't wear the new Old Navy ones because they want something authentic. They collect CDs and vinyl, play bass/guitar/drums and have a deeper knowledge of music than I ever did.
They are also gamers and athletes and politically aware and exceptionally kind. Their ability to stick up for themselves and one another is not something I experienced in high school.
They really are ok.
IceSmiley@reddit
Because there's no convenient free way for younger people to know old songs 🤔
BabymanC@reddit
Us… we are the way. I subject my kids to my music like my parents before me.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
Sad but true. When Boomers see me in my Iron Maiden/Judas Priest shirts I'm highly prepared!
BabymanC@reddit
Those are gen x bands.
FemaleMishap@reddit
He's the one who likes all our pretty songs, and he
Likes to sing along and he likes to shoot his gun, but he
Knows not what it means
ArdenElle24@reddit
My kid was Kurt for Halloween.
junepath@reddit
At my 12 year olds IEP meeting this year her teachers commended her on knowing the music of every band t-shirt she wears, as most kids don’t have a clue.
Constant_Concert_936@reddit
Stolen Valor!
psilosophist@reddit
Name 3 songs vs the iPad generation blank stare.
PhoneJazz@reddit
Next time I see a middle-aged white dude wearing a band T shirt, I’m going to ask him to name 3 songs just to see his reaction lol
noonesaidityet@reddit
My high school in the mid/late 90s was filled with Doors, Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Grateful Dead shirts. The 60s and 70s to us is what the 90s and 00s are to the new batch of little weirdos.
Pleasant-Onion157@reddit
Was gonna say this. The Doors especially got a major resurgence in the mid-late 90s.
MyNameis_bud@reddit
Yeah WE ARE RETRO!
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
I was in the minority at my high school when I was a Deadhead and a massive fan of The Doors.
noonesaidityet@reddit
I think the Dead were big at my school as more of an idea. Of course some of them were fans of the music, but it seemed more like a beacon to let other people know who to follow to the party that had acid. Us weed smokers were more of the Doors and Sabbath fans. We would hear about the T-Rex chasing everyone through the cemetery after it happened.
JudgeJuryEx78@reddit
Exactly.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
Lots of Zeppelin and Grateful Dead shirts, but they knew the songs!
Mr-Brown-Is-A-Wonder@reddit
In the 90's we had a resurgence of 70's style like bellbottoms. There was no flower power, there was no disco. Just superficial emulation.
Li-RM35M4419@reddit
And in the 70s they had a 50s resurgence
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
Math checks out.
chadwickipedia@reddit
Except this is a decade late
CrouchingDomo@reddit
The 90s was ten years ago
I said what I said
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
I said the Math. Checks. Out.
Mattimvs@reddit
and irony...
Miami_Mice2087@reddit
i had flower power....
hop123hop223@reddit
Yeah and the late 60s. Lots of high schoolers wore The Doors and The Beatles t shirts in my neck of the woods
Porcupine__Racetrack@reddit
Yes! I bought a lot of cool cheap 70’s vintage stuff at the goodwill when I was in high school! My brother wore a powder blue leisure suit to prom! 😂
worksnake@reddit
Yes, thank you. I’m not necessarily critical of the emulation, but it is most definitely superficial. This is no “dream” making itself real, it’s a fashion tend.
Case in point, a young friend of mine wore a Hootie shirt the other day, and I exclaimed that I couldn’t believe someone as wearing a Hootie shirt, how cool, etc etc. She looked at me confused my and explained it was her boyfriend’s and that she had no idea what it meant.
SaltyAir-StarrySkies@reddit
They are a generation of kids who want to know what touching grass feels like. They've been raised in a digital world that everyone is pitying them for. They know things are off, and they want to know what they've missed out on. My teens dress like my high school friends, are into cd collecting and like to hang out at the mall. They listen to my old favourite bands and love movies and shows from the 90s.
Nearly every generation thinks the one coming after them is lazy, entitled, and going to ruin everything. You can find examples of this going back thousands of years. But I truly think the kids are alright. They were born into a new world, so they aren't going to accept the conditions of the old one. They are the children of a revolution and I hope they fuck shit up.
Porcupine__Racetrack@reddit
Nah man. This generation coming up is doing ok! My kid’s friends are some of the kindest people. And it’s truly ok to be yourself these days. Much less bullying. Is it still there? Are there still some assholes? Of course. But on the whole the kids are alright
SaltyAir-StarrySkies@reddit
I keep waiting for when I have to deal with the awkwardness of hating one of their friends or thinking they're a "bad seed", but so far I've loved them all.
LastCallKillIt@reddit
It cracks me up its mostly our generation talking shit on Gen Z and A, and I'm like uhhhh its our Generation and tail end Xers that raised them. I'm like ya'll mofo's raised the shitheads- I didn't have kids, hands in the air, I'm clear of any guilt! haha.
It's great that there are a lot of them circling back, the world they never got to encounter with physical media and everything else. As a person who still loves it, its great to see some younger kids bringing it back when CD's were nearly dead and Bluray was declining as well. It's just really unfortunate how the fire is being fuel by them. Being raised with cocaine/ a tablet in their face since 2 years old making them digital world addicts, helicopter parents who know their every move and location with smartphones, no sense of true privacy, or owning tangible music, movies, video games and coming to terms with that life and world SUCKS!
Skore_Smogon@reddit
Got no kids but my 8 yr old nephew just started electric guitar lessons thanks to my influence and has apparently been wrecking my sister's patience playing Aerosmith on repeat this week. He's never heard me play Aerosmith so no clue, that's all on him.
But he wouldn't let his parents buy his guitar until she face timed me while at the guitar shop so I could say "ok mate, that's a good one' while my sister is glaring at me in the background in case I suggested a more expensive one.
I'm the only one in my family with any talent for music and my other nephew and niece aren't interested so this little man must be nurtured and protected at all costs.
Easy_Independent_313@reddit
I'm raising two young musicians. I have a full drum kit in the basement and guitars and basses all over the danged place.
We spend so much money at the music store. It's entertaining.
JudgeJuryEx78@reddit
My Gen Z kid goes fishing multiple times a week, loves taking nature photos, and groans when a game is only available in digital. He also creates music.
Also, raised with cocaine/ a tablet? Huh?
But by all means keep telling people how to raise kids when you have zero experience.
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
That person was generalizing and they weren’t wrong. I’m glad you are raising your kid right but sadly too many people are not.
SnowMission6612@reddit
As the generations get shorter, the parenting generations get shorter. I feel like every parenting generation is a backlash against the previous one. Like "When I was a kid my parents always said 'because I said so' and that's such bullshit, I'm NEVER going to do that with my kids". So every parent goes into parenthood with this long checklist of bullshit they saw their parents (or older cousins or whatever) doing and not doing it.
But they go too far or don't think through it well enough or don't anticipate how the world will have changed, so they end up making their own mistakes through the backlash.
Like Gen X and old Millennial parents are infamous for giving their Gen Z kids iPads, probably because THEIR parents had been all anti-video game when they were kids and they were like "but there's so much potential with artwork in games and so much to explore online and blah blah" so they give their kids iPads. And then everyone sees this "iPad generation" growing up and says "this is all bullshit. I'm NEVER going to give MY kid an iPad when I'm a parent" and a new wave of backlash begins.
I'm a parent of young ones and you can see so much variation in the parents according to what generation they're forming their backlash against. Some are still in the anti-iPad backlash and saying their kids are never going to give their kids iPads or smartphones. Some are anti-anti-iPad backlash and are seeing that taking technology away from their kids is putting them out of touch. And then there's the anti-anti-anti-iPad backlash already starting that sees that maybe the anti-anti-iPadders WERE right at the time, but with AI and TikTok now, it's all bullshit and actually the original anti-iPadders were onto something.
And so it goes with every parenting issue.
Except the pendulum swings are all overlapping with one another now. By the time a new backlash starts, the previously backlash has hardly even hit the mainstream yet.
Anyway, yeah, some Gen Z (and especially Gen Alpha, I think) will get wildly varying touch-grass-ivity depending on who in particularly their parents want to be rebelling against.
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
Good points!
RabbitLuvr@reddit
Making fun of (our) kids’ generation seems to be a sad tradition. Millennials were mocked so hard by Boomers, even though Boomers raised many of them. Most of the millennials didn’t even want those participation trophies! Boomers gave them out, so they could feel special to their friends, then mocked the people they gave them to.
(I’m also child-free, so just standing here as an observer.)
IceSmiley@reddit
I was surprised they liked CDs but when I was a teen I used to collect records and get them cheap at yards sales and thrift stores. It actually was cheaper than tapes or CDs for listening to older music back then
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
Jaded_Specialist1453@reddit
My 8th grade daughter went to school today wearing Jnco-like jeans and a Nirvana shirt 😂. The 90s have definitely come around again and I am living for it (as the kids say)
blahblahsnickers@reddit
My teenage son actually listens to the music too. Last year for Christmas he wanted a tape player and their music tapes (which cost more than I care to admit)
dudesurfur@reddit
We're retro cool... Not sure how I feel about that
nevernicealwaysmean@reddit
My 17 year old absolutely loves Nirvana and RATM.
Nomadzord@reddit
My son came home today with his baggy jeans on, a black long sleeve shirt with my old Ween shirt over it. Feels good man. He asked if I had any more Ween shirts and I have 45, ha ha,
FormidableMistress@reddit
I've seen a lot of kids lately in Nirvana t shirts but they all actually know about the band and like the music. I love to see it.
Background-Student62@reddit
The kids at my daughter’s middle school definitely remind me of 1994-1995.
rinfected@reddit
But they don't know the music or that it's even a band. The amount of times I complimented a shirt and the kid was dumbfounded.. (Middle School teacher here.)
Lopsided_Impact1444@reddit
My 15 year old daughter blows me away. Not only does she know a ton about 90s music, but she is also a fan of the classics.. She knows more about the Beatles than I do. We bond over music more than anything. It's pretty cool to know that these kids dont necessarily care that much about the current Spotify top 10
Sunchinethewerewolf@reddit
It’s just a trend to wear band shirts. A few years back it was Iron Maiden, Metallica, Death, Cannibal Corpse. Now it’s 90’s Grunge/ Rock.
Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit
My daughter bought a sublime shirt so I MADE her listen to 5 songs haha
Pita_Girl@reddit
Tried this the other day. My kids were NOT impressed. 😂 I gave them a pass since Sublime is the only band I like that they’ve vetoed so far and I’ve made them listen to stuff dating back to the 50’s
Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit
Yeah my daughter liked What I Got and Santeria haha
MadPopette@reddit
Good, so many of those lyrics have not aged well!
Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit
Wrong way and date rape were not included haha
BabymanC@reddit
My 12 year old is well versed in Rammstein, Korn, Linkin Park, System of a Down, Metallica, Ghost, the Talking Heads, the Clash, Bad Religion, the Dead Kennedys, Die Antwoord, Smashing Pumpkins, and Eminem.
His peers… not so much
Serenity_Obscura@reddit
Lol yea i wanna see this mug on a shirt
BabymanC@reddit
I played Hammer Smashed Face for my kid… He didn’t get the appeal.
lsleofman@reddit
Finally got to see them live about a month back. Hilarious when people were yelling out songs they wanted to hear.
“I cum blood!”
djdecimation@reddit
Respect the neck
effitalll@reddit
Posers
GrungeCheap56119@reddit
Target has all the band shirts now
Pita_Girl@reddit
They have for years. I bought my son a Metallica shirt when he was 3. He’s 10 now.
fermentedradical@reddit
ffphier@reddit
My daughters are both early teens. They and most of their friends wear black Chuck Taylors and wear 90’s band tees.
Miami_Mice2087@reddit
it's a very weird feeling. i walk into target and it looks like 1998
Verbull710@reddit
Do you remember the 90's?
Yeah.
Y'know, people were talking about getting piercings and getting tribal tattoos. And people were singing about saving the planet; forming bands?
Yeah.
There's a place where that idea still exists as a reality, and I've been there.
Where is it?
Portland.
Oregon?
Yeah.
More_Programmer5053@reddit
I’m fostering my 11 year old nephew and he got so excited when Green Day released an anniversary album.
BeeBeeDrinkDrink@reddit
My 11 year had Radiohead on her Spotify!
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
My daughter heard me playing Massive Attack a couple of weeks ago and now I catch her listening to it frequently.
eggs_erroneous@reddit
It's like when we wore Zeppelin and Pink Floyd shit.
Skore_Smogon@reddit
Speaking from a UK/Ireland perspective, if you were a metalhead you knew who Maiden and Sabbath were. If you smoked weed you knew who Pink Floyd were.
My parents brought me up on a diet of AC/DC, Queen, Zeppelin, Springsteen, Stiff Little Fingers, Bowie and all the good 70s rock.
We were poor as shit but had an amazing hi-fi system with all the separate components and quality speakers as my parents loved their music.
I only wore shirts because I liked the band.
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
We had similar upbringings then. After my Dad passed two years ago, I brought back a small collection of his records that I listen to.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
We knew their songs
MadPopette@reddit
No, I was raised on Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Georgia Satellites, Steve Miller Band.. my dad loved that music, and I still rock out to all of it!
Gloom_Pangolin@reddit
I have a strong feeling full band rock in any form is going to make a hard comeback as the made-for-Tik-Tok short-clip/over-produced trend wears off. If the 90s rejected the 80s glam-metal polish, and 80s punk/metal rejected 70s glam rock, we’re back there. It’ll be different but they’ll find their way.
TrixieLaBouche@reddit
Gen Z is looking good in my household. 16 year old loves 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, some 00s. Hates his age music.
IceSmiley@reddit
I hated my age music in the 90s 🤣
Morriganx3@reddit
I mean, our music was objectively the shit. But there’s some great stuff being made now also. My playlists just keep getting longer
Benzinni1@reddit
I saw a couple teenagers the other walking out of school and they had the exact same outfits we had, I love it!
Ok-Potato-4774@reddit
I went to my stepdaughter's high school registration day and can report that this is true. I was seeing shirts of all of the bands I saw in my youth.
IceSmiley@reddit
That is nice and it's nothing new, like how 70s retro was popular when we were kids.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
My kids haven't ripped off my old fashion sense yet. 💀
Do_it_My_Way-79@reddit
But ask them if they know who is on their shirt.
moonbunnychan@reddit
When I was in highschool in the late 90s I got weirdly obsessed with the late 60s and specifically the hippie movement. My favorite band was The Beatles so I had a bunch of shirts and a giant poster on my wall. I also tried to dress like a hippie. For me it felt almost like not even a real time my parents had grown up in but like Camelot or something.
Aggressive_Walk378@reddit
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
I guess you haven’t been to Sephora lately, they’re so weird. Buying up all the retinols. Those are for me! 😭
ArdenElle24@reddit
My daughter, a 7th grader (and technically Gen Z) wears a Def Leppard shirt religiously.
They like the graphics of the old bands on clothing, not really the bands themselves.
Billabong, GAP and other brands have been putting them out.
My oldest son, 18, loves xennial music.
HexOnLex@reddit
I found my 8 yo son trying to draw the S, so I showed him. Proudest parenting moment yet 😭
Epicardiectomist@reddit
It makes sense. They have nothing tangible to call their own. They see their parents with boxes of random stuff accumulated over the years. Stuff they actually own, that represents their time period. Current generations have fleeting data, and that won't last the next 30+ years.
theovermonkey@reddit
But is it still alive in Portland?
Upset-Word151@reddit
I thought the dream of the 90s was only alive in Portland!
RockShowSparky@reddit
They sell all these “vintage” band tees at like Target and Walmart now.
Lcky22@reddit
I teach middle school and I’m loving it.
Nottheadviceyaafter@reddit
We are all old and it's our turn for fashion to come around (the true sign of we are fin old lol). Daughter just stole my flanno and nirvana shirt just last week.
aspect-of-the-badger@reddit
That's just people buying stuff for their kids that they liked when they were kids.
Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit
They’re living in times that don’t have an aesthetic or much of an identity. It’s only natural they adopt some older one.
caryn1477@reddit
I guarantee you they have no idea who those bands are.
EastTXJosh@reddit (OP)
I can’t speak to the other kids, but I know my son always requests Nirvana when he’s in the car with me.
SilentSerel@reddit
Same here. Some kids really do know their stuff. My son is also hugely into 80s-90s sports (especially NFL and NBA) and 80s-90s video games. Someone good-naturedly tried a "pop quiz" on him in a retro gaming store and that didn't trip him up either.
caryn1477@reddit
That's awesome.
sageamericanidiot@reddit
My gen alpha even knows the songs of the band shirts he wears. I'm having so much fun with my daughter. She's in elementary school, but big on 90s fashion. Before my mom passed away she was so amazed by her fashion sense and said she looks like a mini version of my highschool self. ❤️
Money_Magnet24@reddit