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Mudhoney,
Melvins, Nirvana: Best Albums for Grunge Fanatics
By Mark
Prindle
www.markprindle.com
Back when I
was in high school, right around the time I was discovering that
every hardcore band sounded exactly the same, the Georgia Tech radio
station started running this show called Tongue Bath, featuring
what the DJ referred to as "grunge" music.
This would
have been 1990, you understand, so I didn't have any historical
mainstream precedent to help explain all those crazy noises that
permeated from the stereo speakers every Wednesday night when I
cranked up Mr. Radio Show Guy.
Bands like
King Snake Roost, Lubricated Goat, Surgery, Helmet, Tar, Silverfish,
Melvins, Cows, Mudhoney, Nirvana, and Steel Pole Bath Tub cranked
out these mid-tempo pounding screaming noisy distorted rackety messes
that just spewed out all over my rug, which at the time was swarming
with live fleas, but that's a different matter entirely. I had a
dog; he had fleas; off my fucking back.
Now then, I
wasn't going to take a chance and waste ten bucks on an album by
any of these shady young bands, so it's a good darn thing that I
got a job at my college radio station the very next year. Suddenly,
an entire universe of illegally-recordable tuneage was at my disposal
every second of every day! Yahoo!! So what could I do but tape all
of it and get really bitter four months later when my special word
"grunge" began to be used in reference to overproduced
power pop like Nevermind and whatever Soundgarden was doing
at the time?? Ugh.
Okay then,
I've grown. I'm no longer bitter. I've long since realized that
any attempt to claim a "band" or "genre" as
your own is nothing but a childish defense mechanism. For the love
of God, don't take my cool away!!!
So, without
further ado, here are three essential records that define the screaming
ugly mess that brought the term "grunge" into existence,
rated with the 10-point Prindlemeter. Heck, I like them,
but there's no real reason you should. Still, you might want to
check 'em out. Maybe you'll dig 'em, too! Why not? Who gives a rat's
ass?
Melvins
Gluey Porch Treatments
(Alchemy, 1986)
Amazing. You
won't believe that your stereo is actually on the right speed. These
songs take FOREVER!!! They just poke along like a turtle getting
kicked in the ass by a bitter old Mexican or related Latino.
The Melvins' singer sounds like a violent muppet, and the
mostly dinky songs have more speed and rhythm changes than a monkey
chewing himself some marijuana leafage.
This is a very
creative though hardly accessible release, and is thus very well
worth repeated listenings. It takes quite a while for the style
to suddenly make sense, but it eventually does.
At first, you
just think to yourself, "Why aren't they playing any riffs?,"
but after about four listens, the riffs suddenly become clear. They
are normal Black Sabbath-esque riffs; it's the arrangements that
are mucked out the humding. They always throw in an extra beat or
speedy little 3-note break when you least expect it. What baffles
me is how damn tight they are, considering how darn unnatural all
the tunes are. It rules!
So creative.
I promise you, after letting these 19 songs sink into your unwilling
system for a week or so, you'll never be able to go back to "normal"
grunge. After grappling with this baby, Soundgarden's Louder
Than Love, for example, sounds about as interesting as a Garbage
record.
The numbers
are deceivingly complex (they sure sound simple, but they
also change a heck of a lot as they go) in such a pleasing manner
that those bullshit cock riffs that Cornell and the boys lump out
one after the other will just make you wanna make that obnoxious
"jerkin' off" motion with your left hand (unless you're
a girl, in which case you probably don't have a male sexual organ).
Not that I'm knocking Soundgarden as a concept. I actually really
like Cornell's voice -- but I love King Buzzo's more!
Mudhoney
Superfuzz Bigmuff + Early Singles
(Sub Pop, 1988)
In the beginning,
Mudhoney were cranked-up, distorted, long-haired motorcycle
rockers who helped give "grunge" its name. This CD is
built for rockin', with two wildass guitars blarin' outta the speakers,
drums careenin' along like logs down mountains towards jeeps, and
a sixties-soundin' nasally shouter of a vocalist giving you, the
listener, an all-new reason to believe in the future of post-punk
rock and roll.
Some folks
feel that this is Mudhoney's only good record. I disagree and, in
fact, don't even think it's their best record, quite frankly.
I mean, "No One Has" and "In 'N' Out Of Grace"
rock my mudpies all over the creekbank, and "Need" and
"If I Think" are catchy and moving, respectively and respectably,
but "Chain That Door" is kind of awkward.
The CD is double
the length of the original Superfuzz Bigmuff EP with a couple
of totally butt-movin' rock and roll originals ("Touch Me I'm
Sick" and "Burn It Clean"), a couple o' terrific
cover tunes (The Dicks' "Hate The Police" and Sonic Youth's
"Halloween"), and a couple o' less memorable tracks that
aren't bad. The sludgy "Mudride" comes dangerously close
to "duller than Bobby Fuller," not that I'm putting down
Bobby Fuller, nor in contrast expressing some sort of solidarity
with his memory, which is to say that I have no feelings for or
against the mafia, and I'm sure that they're very pleasant people
once you get to know them.
Cool EP, plus
"Touch Me I'm Sick" which, sir or ma'am, is a bonafide
classical music! They wouldn't sound this fuzzy for much longer,
so enjoy it while you're canned!
Nirvana
Bleach
(Sub Pop, 1989)
Recorded for
a mere $600, this record shows off the Nirvanas at their
most musically inventive.
The pounding
drum tones (not played by Dave Grohl! He wasn't in the band yet!)
hint at Melvins worship, but the guitar lines, enhanced greatly
by bushel-fulls of weirdass chords and feedback noise, have kept
my ears entertained on many more an occasion than, say, anything
the Melvins ever recorded except possibly "Honey Bucket,"
which kicks the living daylights out of my sunshine bottle.
There's also
a neat overall dark tone (probably resulting from the limited recording
budget, and thus sadly missing from their other records) that slaps
a padoodle to "Floyd The Barber," "Paper Cuts,"
and "Sifting," three of the most mesmerizing noise dirges
this side of Swansville.
It aren't just
the tone, though. These melodies are also much more melancholy and
minor-key-ly than you might expect from listening to the slaphappy
Nevermind. Only the slacker love story "Swap Meet"
and the carnival-goofy "Mr. Moustache" come close to conveying
the sense of youthful celebration and exuberance that would so woo
the musical universe in just two short years.
And, Mr., here's
the thing. This record proves that Kurt had talent, goddammit. Not
just songwriting talent, but soundscaping talent. Ever heard
"Negative Creep?" The hell is that? "Shoop?"
That's the melody? "Jug-jug-shoop-jug-jug-jug-jug-shoop???"
Not even a chord, but "shoop?" And how about the way he
screams in "Paper Cuts?" "A SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD SONG!!!!!!!!"
No wonder the chest pains!
It doesn't
"kick buttock," as the kids say, but it's extremely interesting
to listen to. Reminds me a little of Black
Flag's My War, but a metallicaload better. Kurt had a
super lurchy screaming voice, a fantastic ear for feedback (see
the amazing intro to "Paper Cuts"), and no intention of
playing boring old corporate rock.
This was grunge,
darn it! Underground hard rock of the late '80s! Something new and
special! A splendid combo of heavy metal and punk! Steel Pole Bath
Tub! King Snake Roost! And Nirvana, goddammit, Nirvana!!! Kings
of Seattle grunge!!!
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Reader Comments
From: Barrett Barnard
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003
Mark's the best friggin' rock writer in the known world right
now and you're lucky you have 'im.
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