Claim: Soundgarden popularized a subgenre of alternative rock.
Evidence: Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label -LRB- A&M Records in 1988 -RRB- , though the band did not achieve commercial success until they popularized the genre in the early 1990s with Seattle contemporaries Pearl Jam , Nirvana , and Alice in Chains.
Grunge -LRB- sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound -RRB- is a subgenre of alternative rock and a subculture that emerged during the in the Pacific Northwest U.S. state of Washington , particularly in Seattle and nearby towns.