I could tell you all about how Nirvana completely upeneded the music industry in the 90s or how they recently won a Video Vanguard Award in 2026 but that would all be boring because that has been written about ad nauseam. And I also just wanted an excuse to write ‘ad nauseam’ somewhere. So let’s just get into this compilation of songs that sound like Nirvana songs. Starting with this series of songs that it seems Nirvana might have lifted from in their 1992 song “Come as You Are”. That iconic riff actually seems to have some roots in The Damned’s 1982 “Life Goes On” and Killing Joke’s “Eighties” (1984). I could see Kurt messing around and playing those riffs and eventually coming up with “Come as You Are”. Have a listen!

Hello, Hello, Hello…

Let’s take a step back for a second though and have a listen to the pre-chorus of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991):

Do you remember the group Tony! Toni! Toné! ? They had a song called “Let’s Get Down” (1996) and part of it sounded like this:

But wait, there’s more! Have a listen to Karmin’s 2012 song “Hello” which, according to the Wikipedia is an interpolation of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. And Nirvana is even given credit on the track!

Heart Shaped Box

One of my favorite bands of all time is Jawbreaker and when Blake started Jets to Brazil I was obsessed with their first album Orange Rhyming Dictionary (1998). Buried deep at the end, second to last track, is a song called “I Typed for Miles”. And all I can thing when I hear it is Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” from In Utero. Have a listen!

And that’s it for now!