For over 25 years now “Alternative Rock” and “Triangle Radio” have been like oil and water. While smaller cities (like Norfolk and Wilmington) around the country have enjoyed commercial alternative stations, Raleigh has been stuck with the same repetitious offering of country/classic rock/dance/adult contemporary…until now. 95.3, billed as “95X” debuted Friday and finally brings the Triangle up to date with other markets where “Mumford & Sons”, “The Temper Trap”, and “The Killers” aren’t met with strange looks.

The station is actually a Clear Channel offering of WDCG-HD2, broadcasted on a weak signal out of Apex. Chris Edge left KGSR in Austin to come run the station, and the plan is to get a second frequency in the western half of the Triangle.

For faithful readers of Pitchfork, or even avid fans of MTV’s 120 Minutes, the playlist will not be terribly interesting.  Commercial radio stations will have their “play the hits” and saturation advertising weaknesses (“Hennnnnnrick…”), after all, however the playlist reads more like “new rock”, or essentially what 106 and QDR were doing at the moment when they coexisted, which is much needed. Before Friday, the newest real rock band played on commercial stations was the Foo Fighters, a band that has been around for 17 years. Welcome to the Triangle, 95X!