The music, the artists and the hype that defined a generation — from documentarian Doug Pray, director of SURFWISE and SCRATCH! Drop into the Pacific Northwest at the start of the Nineties and watch a vibrant underground scene explode into a global grunge media frenzy. HYPE! follows the music from local bands playing for their friends to Sub Pop’s brilliant exploitation of "the Seattle Sound," to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" charting at #1.

Questions of money, authenticity and fame arise as "grunge fashion" hits the runways and a mass migration of wanna-be Seattle bands saturates the city. Interspersed throughout are fascinating introspective interviews with members of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and the Fastbacks — as well as a ton of live performances sure to ping the pleasure center of any musichead’s head. ― American Genre Film Archive