The Smashing Pumpkins always felt like the odd ones out during the alternative rock boom of the 1990s. The Chicago quartet were hugely successful, certainly, but where most of the grunge and skate-punk bands that broke big in the first half of that decade favoured rather rudimentary songwriting and a stripped back, raw sound, Billy Corgan’s crew aimed for lavish, complex and sweeping compositions.
Throughout their career, the Pumpkins went in all manner of different musical directions, with Corgan even famously claiming that rock was dead at one point, but it is definitely their more guitar-centric material that has best stood the test of time. And despite being out of step for the era, they still captured the imagination of many, many young musicians; here are five new bands that take inspiration from that unique mix of suspense, big riffs, eerie atmosphere and perfect melodies.
