For nearly two decades, Nirvana has been the go-to angst band for alienated teens all over the world. For me, their music is a lot more effective now that I am more than six years removed from high school. It is a lot easier to appreciate their music when you aren’t trapped in hallways and classrooms filled with stoners that know every Nirvana song on their guitar by heart. I was angry too, but I’ve never really gone through a period where I was infatuated with Nirvana. The idol worship was a little overwhelming for me, but it is a testament to the group’s influence that they are still a major fixture in Washington D.C. suburbs that would make Kurt Cobain cringe for being so painfully dull.
This summer marked the 20th anniversary of Bleach and Sub Pop are celebrating by re-issuing the overlooked debut with a fresh re-master by album producer Jack Endino. The re-issue also comes with a live set from 1990 and a booklet containing rare photos of the pre-Dave Grohl incarnation of the band. It is appropriate that the booklet contains absolutely no writing with the exception of the credits. So much has been written about Nirvana that it almost feels pointless to add to the pile. If you’re skipping over this review, I understand. However, I believe that Bleach is worth critiquing because it is an album that exists deep in the shadows of the two albums that would follow it.
Krist Novoselic doesn’t get a lot of credit for his role in Nirvana, but he and Cobain simply click musically on Bleach. Listening to the duo of “School” and “Love Buzz” gets this point across. Badass is the only word that comes to mind when listening to Cobain’s violent riff on “School.” Dave Grohl and Cobain’s musical growth would make Nirvana a tighter, better band, but drummer Chad Channing serves his purpose on Bleach. Unsurprisingly, Cobain is the star of the album and it is amazing how confident he sounds. Most debut records would kill for a song as good as “About A Girl.” Few singers have ever sounded so comfortable in voicing their own straight-up, unhinged misery. That’s a compliment.
Messy albums like Bleach aren’t supposed to be perfect, which is kind of the point. It will never be spoken in the same breath as Nevermind or In Utero, but it still impresses. It is nice to be able to listen to a Nirvana record that doesn’t have so much legend and noise floating in the background. Bleach is great because it came before the storm. The notion sounds ridiculous at first, but you can sit back and pretend this is just another up-and-coming rock band making an album at the end of a decade that featured Hüsker Dü, The Pixies, R.E.M., The Replacements, Sonic Youth, and so many other great acts. Bleach was made during the most fruitful and exciting time underground rock has ever seen. Kurt Cobain didn’t want to be part of any scene, but if he saw the bands I just name-checked and not a genre title, I’d like to believe he’d be honored to be part of that club.
The deluxe edition of Bleach hits stores tomorrow, November 3rd.
In March, Sub Pop reissued Bunny Gets Paid, the third full length from Red Red Meat, the Chicago group that preceded Tim Rutili’s current band, Califone. Although it is what makes Bunny Gets Paid stand out, the album’s combination of disheveled guitars and blues tones probably wasn’t widely appreciated in 1995. I can imagine Red Red Meat being written off at the time as “leftover grunge,” but this album deserves so much more than that. Moments such as the broke-down opener “Carpet Of Horses” represent a band locating its voice in a time that was filled with dozens of alternative acts struggling to find their way in the wake of a genre’s death.
In the liner notes of this two disc reissue, Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock states, “Bunny Gets Paid sold a lot of weed to me.” I’ll class that up by saying there is a murky quality to the album, but there is also great depth beneath its surface. Nuances such as the strings on “Buttered” and the piano on “Sad Cadillac” are intensely beautiful. Rutili’s lyrics are often hard to discern, but he leaves a large impression with his vocals. What fascinates me most about Bunny is that, somehow, it is filled with great hooks. The chorus of “Gauze” is unbelievable and if the timing had been better, “Chain Chain” could have been big.
Surprisingly, the title track is the one song that underwhelms, but the album is remarkably steady considering how messy it may seem. Bunny ends with a cover of “There’s Always Tomorrow,” a cut from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. The premise of this will seem odd until you hear Red Red Meat’s exceptional interpretation. The lone revelation on disc two is a worthy cover of Low’s “Words” that feels right at home. I am not too disappointed that the bonus disc doesn’t offer much because discovering this album for the first time was satisfaction enough for me. Bunny Gets Paid is a treasure that was kept in the dark for far too long.
Soft Airplane begins with two of Chad VanGaalen’s finest compositions to date, but only serve as a precursor for the surprises that his third full length packs. “Willow Tree” perfects the intimate folk that VanGaalen has tinkered with on his previous releases. The song segues immediately into “Bones Of Man,” a mid-tempo rocker that adds more fuel to the frequent Neil Young comparisons that are tossed VanGaalen’s way. The first five songs on the album visit familiar, yet refined territory for VanGaalen. It isn’t until Soft Airplane arrives at “Phantom Anthills” that he decides to throw a true curveball.
The electronic blips of “Phantom Anthills” represent the beginning of VanGaalen’s most experimental song cycle to date. There are softer moments scattered around (the haunting “Molten Light” and the forgettable Destroyer-esque “City Of Electric Light”), but the second half of Soft Airplane is anything but quiet. “TMNT Mask” is a such a trip that any attempt at a description would fall short. However, I can reveal to you that TMNT does equal Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles, in case you were wondering. These sonic explorations climax with “Frozen Energon,” a closing instrumental that would make Thurston Moore grin proudly.
Despite how much the album jumps around, VanGaalen retains a high level of consistency. His previous effort, 2006’s Skelliconnection, had some trouble with this. When I interviewed VanGaalen prior to that album’s release, he admitted to me that he had a great deal of trouble sequencing it. I am curious to know if he encountered similar issues with the adventurous Soft Airplane. Regardless, it does a much better job of balancing his singer/songwriter and experimental tendencies. VanGaalen continues to prove that he is one of Sub Pop’s most dynamic artists and Soft Airplane is only further confirmation.
Tour
9/21/08 – New York, NY – Blender Theatre @ Gramercy (with Giant Sand)
10/2/08 – Ottawa, Ontario – Zaphod Beeblebrox (with Women)
10/3/08 – Montreal, Quebec – Ukrainian Federation (with Women and Julie Doiron)
10/4/08 – Toronto, Ontario – The Mod Club (with Women)
10/9/08 – Vancouver, BC – Richards on Richards
10/10/08 – Victoria, BC – Sugar Nightclub
10/11/08 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge (with Giant Sand)
10/12/08 – Seattle, WA – Triple Door (with Giant Sand)
10/17/08 – Edmonton – McDougall United Church (WCMA CBCRadio3 showcase)
10/25/08 – Calgary – The Uptown Stage
The electronic blips of “Phantom Anthills” represent the beginning of VanGaalen’s most experimental song cycle to date. There are softer moments scattered around (the haunting “Molten Light” and the forgettable Destroyer-esque “City Of Electric Light”), but the second half of Soft Airplane is anything but quiet. “TMNT Mask” is a such a trip that any attempt at a description would fall short. However, I can reveal to you that TMNT does equal Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles, in case you were wondering. These sonic explorations climax with “Frozen Energon,” a closing instrumental that would make Thurston Moore grin proudly.
Facebook
Last.fm
Twitter