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| Malfunkshun, a grunge pioneer |
As mentioned in recent posts, in the 80’s punk rock evolved past its obsession with short and fast songs; songs became longer, slower, and heavier. The influence of heavy metal began to percolate through various punk scenes.
Two bands that led this sea change were San Francisco’s Flipper and LA’s Black Flag. Both independently evolved toward a slower, heavier, sludgier sound; Flipper primarily so as to be contrary and to piss their audience off, and Black Flag because of Greg Ginn’s respect for 70’s rock bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.
The influence of these two bands was considerable on the development of scenes elsewhere. While Flipper did not tour extensively before Will Shatter’s death in 1987, their singles and their first album Generic Flipper were widely available in independent record stores. Black Flag’s legal troubles prior to 1984 prevented them from releasing albums but Flag toured incessantly throughout this period and were a tremendous influence on burgeoning scenes everywhere.
One region in particular where the influence of these bands was strongly felt was the Pacific Northwest. Steve Turner, guitarist for the seminal Seattle grunge band Mudhoney, has commented on how Black Flag’s slower, heavier sound was lauded in Seattle, and how punk and heavy metal weren’t seen as extreme opposites as much in the evolving Seattle scene, allowing audiences and members of local bands to appreciate the evolving Flag sound.
The history of punk music in Seattle starts with a handful of bands that formed in the late 70’s or early 80’s. Most notable here is the band Solger, which many consider Seattle’s first hardcore band. Centered around guitarist Paul Dana (Paul Solger), Solger played relatively straightforward hardcore punk—loud fast, sloppy. None of their songs are available on iTunes but two singles are posted on YouTube, “Dead Solger”, which sounds a lot like early Circle Jerks, and the even shorter, faster “American Youth”, which even at this early date (circa 1980) has a heaviness to the bottom that seems to presage the coming grunge movement.
After leaving Solger in 1982, Paul Dana joined the Fartz, who, aside from the notoriety of their name, were also notable as being the first band for future Guns n’ Roses member Duff McKagen. The sound here is still really raw, sloppy, and fairly fast hardcore punk heavily influenced by early Germs, particularly in singer Blaine Cook’s near-incoherent vocals; “Waste No Time” sounds like a carbon copy of “We Must Bleed”. Amazingly, a compilation album of their work called Because This Fuckin’ World Still Stinks is available on iTunes. “Fuck Art Let’s Fart” is a 33 second guitar freakout that sounds like an outtake from “1970” by the Stooges. “People United” and “You’ve Got A Brain, Use It” are similar brief, atonal blasts of noise and unintelligible lyrics.
Another early Seattle band were 10 Minute Warning. Formed in 1982, 10 Minute Warning consisted of Paul Solger and then-drummer Duff McKagen of the Fartz along with vocalist Steve Verwolf and bassist David Garrigues, they again played fast, sloppy hardcore not too different from what was dominant in other places. A post of their early five song cassette release Survival of the Fittest is posted on YouTube and aside from some slightly metal-influenced guitar solos, it doesn’t sound too different from either Solger or the Fartz. A standout track is “Judgment Day”, which has a rumbling vibe reminiscent of “Free Speech For the Dumb” by Discharge.
The true beginnings of Seattle grunge can be heard in the early recordings of three groups: Limp Richerds, the U-Men and Malfunkshun. Limp Richerds formed in 1981 and played songs that were, in contrast to Solger, the Fartz and 10 Minute Warning, was extremely slow, long and heavy. Vocalist Mark Arm and guitarist Steve Turner of Limp Richerds were indeed considered the primary architects of the eventual Seattle sound through their work in the bands Green River and Mudhoney. Two of their early cassettes are posted on YouTube and feature their slow, heavy sound. 1983’s The War Between the States sounds like Darby Crash doing vocals for Flipper, with a repetitive, heavy riff and spastic vocals creating an atonal wall of noise, and a weird high pitched shrieking that sounds like a strangled saxophone providing counterpoint. The second song, “My Dad Forgot His Rubber and I Was the Result” is shorter but has an identical tempo and vibe. The final song is even more incoherent, with barely understandable, shouted lyrics and a wilder guitar accompaniment. 1984’s I’ve Only Got a Nickle On Me, Honest! Continues on in the same vein. This is extremely difficult music.
The U-Men, who formed in 1981, also made challenging music, but it was more technically accomplished and also contained elements of psychobilly and 70’s hard rock. “Dig It A Hole” has a Cramps-like vibe and a huge, heavy bottom and eventually blasts into a wild 70’s guitar solo in between its evil, deep refrain. The Cramps vibe is even more noticeable on “2 x 4”, which like “Dig It A Hole” is posted on YouTube but not available on iTunes. Here too an avante-rock sound is evident that evokes the Birthday Party or even the Butthole Surfers (who actually named a song after them on their album Locust Abortion Technician, so perhaps this connection is not surprising). “Gila” has a rumbling bass-and-guitar that sounds like late 80’s Dinosaur Jr.
Malfunkshun have achieved fame/notoriety for having been the first band of future Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood. Like Limp Richerds and the U-Men, Malfunkshun pursued a much slower, heavier vibe that drew heavily from 70’s music like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin but also had a funk element to it as well. Wood’s vocals also had an almost fey, glam-like aspect as well that drew on Bowie and Bolan. In 1995, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard compiled some of their early songs into an album called Return to Olympus which is available on iTunes. This compilation gives a taste of what this band was like and why they are seen as grunge pioneers. “Shotgun Wedding” begins with Mark’s brother Kevin’s noodling, acidulous guitar but then lurches into a heavy, Zep-like groove. Andrew Wood’s vocals are a bit over-the-top but its easy to see why this band is considered so hallowed in retrospect. The band this most reminds me of is an LA band from a few years later called Liquid Jesus that was mixing punk, funk, and heavy/hard rock in equal measures; clearly the Chili Peppers are another touchstone, particularly on songs like “Mr. Liberty (With Morals)”. They also do a cover of “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” by Ted Nugent that is even more blistering than the original, sounding almost like speedmetal. Quieter ballads like “Until the Ocean” show that this band could slow it down but not lose their emotional power; they seem to have been equal to Jane’s Addiction in this regard: this song reminds me of the original live version of “Jane Says” off Jane’s Addiction’s album on Triple X.
Several other Malfunkshun songs are posted on YouTube that are not currently commercially available. “With Yo’ Heart” has an ominous, Sabbath-like guitar that echoes “Iron Man”, while “Stars ‘N’ You” is shorter and faster, sounding more like hardcore but with a heavier, more 70’s hard rock vibe too.
In the wake of these three pioneers surged three bands that would truly establish the grunge asthetic. The Melvins, whose supremely bottom heavy sound and slow tempos would become synonymous with grunge. In 1986, three years after they formed, C/Z released a compilation of Seattle artists called Deep Six, which has become something of a historical landmark of the true beginning of the grunge/Seattle sound. This compilation included four songs by the Melvins, which demonstrates their huge footprint on the Seattle scene. “She Waits” has a roaring bottom and lurches and surges at varying speeds for 40 quick seconds. “Scared” starts with a massive riff punctuated by vocalist Buzz Ozborne’s strange yelps and almost whiny vocals; this is a great introduction to the sound of the Melvins, at once massively heavy but lightened by an element of whimsy in the vocals and lyrics. “The Grinding Process” sounds like exactly that: a huge, grinding, ponderous Sabbath riff with vocals that are heavier and more evil sounding. Kurt Cobain was such a Melvins fan that he supposedly roadied for them and tried out (and failed) on bass for them before forming Nirvana; he would eventually contribute to their major label debut after grunge broke.
Green River formed soon after the Melvins formed and are also considered one of the founders of true grunge. Formed by Mark Arm and Steve Turner after the breakup of Limp Richerds, they were joined by future Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. While not as crushingly heavy as the Melvins, Green River’s sound was also bottom heavy and 70’s-influenced, but also contained elements of 80’s post-punk as well. They had two songs on the Deep Six compilation: “Your Own Best Friend” has a solid bass and big chunky riffs but also has a minor chord atonality that suggests Die Kreuzen or early Sonic Youth. “10000 Things” is a little more toned down but has an ominous edge to it; it doesn’t reach the bigness of “Friend” but still shows how the Seattle sound evolved.
Like Green River, Skin Yard also had two songs on the Deep Six compilation. Formed in 1985 by guitarist/singer Jack Endino (who achieved greater fame as a producer, particularly of Nirvana), bassist Daniel House (and future president of C/Z Records), guitarist Ben McMillan (who would later front the early 90’s grunge band Gruntruck), and drummer Matt Cameron (future Soundgarden drummer), Skin Yard’s music also had a high-end atonality like Green River and sounded a lot like Die Kreuzen. This can be best heard on “Throb” off the Deep Six compilation. “The Birds” has a contemplative intro, with a meandering bass line and shimmering guitars, a plaintive saxophone, but eventually lurches into a heavy, feedback-drenched segment.
Two other bands formed in the mid-80’s that would go on to reap the international acclaim most of these other bands would never receive. Soundgarden formed in 1984 and released their first album, an EP for the then-nascent label Sub Pop in 1987. This stuff is interesting but it doesn’t quite show how powerful this band would become. My favorite stuff by them is off their first album, 1988’s Ultramega OK, on SST. In particular, the song “Beyond the Wheel” starts with a repeating, clanging guitar riff and singer Chris Cornell’s ominous, cultish chanting vocals but then breaks into a piercing falsetto midway through as the band also thunders into the incredibly heavy riff at the heart of the song. I was a college DJ in 1988 when this came out and was thunderstruck by the heaviness of this band. This was at a time when several bands were achieving acclaim for incorporating a heavier, more arena rock type of vibe into their alternative music, among them Jane’s Addiction, the Nymphs, L7, the Smashing Pumpkins, and even to some extent the Pixies (whose Doolittle came out later that year).
In 1987 Nirvana formed in Aberdeen, Washington but they played many shows in Seattle and quickly became the standard bearer for the scene. Its hard to describe the impact now that Nirvana had on popular music. I saw Nirvana on October 25th, 1991. This was a “Rock For Choice” benefit concert and had Nirvana, Hole, L7, and Sister Double Happiness on the bill. I had just started grad school and a bunch of grad students went with my girlfriend (now my wife) and I to the concert together, which was at the Palace in Hollywood, CA. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had been released only the month before but was already gaining momentum on the charts. I can still remember seeing how crazy the audience was for Nirvana, who I’d heard of but hadn’t followed that much until then, and thinking, man, this group is going to be BIG (the other time I thought this was actually at another “Rock For Choice” benefit concert a couple years later when I saw Rage Against The Machine and was stunned by how they seemed to have this HUGE audience of young girls). I quickly bought In Utero and Bleach, their first full-length Sub Pop album (which was produced by ex-Skin Yard member Jack Endino). My favorite song of theirs is still “Love Buzz”.
Several other bands burst out of the grunge scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s, including Alice In Chains, Tad, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Dwarves (I recently got into the Dwarves, and downloaded “Let’s Fuck” and “SFVD” off Blood, Guts, and Pussy). In 1988 Green River and Malfunkshun broke up; Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament of Green River joined Andrew Wood in Mother Love Bone, who appeared poised for major success prior to Wood’s tragic death of a heroin overdose in 1990, while Mark Arm and Steve Turner of Green River formed Mudhoney with bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Their single “Touch Me I’m Sick” has a wild feel of 60’s garage rock combined with a psychobilly shimmer combined with a heavily distorted, feedback-laden vibe. “Burn It Clean” sounds like an 80’s post-hardcore update of “Little Doll” by the Stooges. After Andrew Wood’s death Gossard and Ament teamed up with vocalist Eddie Vedder to form Pearl Jam, who of course went on to become one of the biggest and most acclaimed and successful bands of the 90’s.
It may surprise some who have been reading this blog, but I was a tepid grunge fan at best. Most of the songs above I’ve collected primarily in a historic/archival way. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Nirvana, but like most I quickly tired (as did Cobain himself) of the global adulation of them. It’s a weird feeling when what was once something underground and beloved by a favored few becomes overground and beloved by all. Nirvana made the most amazing music and Kurt Cobain was an incredible lyricist—I still think “Heart Shaped Box” has the most incredible lyrics of any song from the 90’s and maybe ever—but aside from them I never became a fan of any of the other grunge bands. There was also something very macho and testosterone-driven by that music/scene that turned me off. Don’t get me wrong, grunge had to happen and I’m glad it did—it wiped away the horrid stain that glam metal put on popular music in the late 80’s. And I was happy to see bands like Sonic Youth, Rollins Band, the Butthole Surfers and Dinosaur Jr. achieve a well-deserved measure of respect. But by then I’d been listening to music by bands like Black Flag and G.B.H. for almost a decade, and was burned out on heavy, angry music. By the late 80’s I was looking for something a little lighter and more fun, and grunge was too serious for me.
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