Casting one’s mind back to Grunge’s peak period, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney spring to mind. Chatting with those part of the scene from its earliest stages provides very different answers; protagonists keen to separate themselves from the rest of the American hardcore scene due to greater inclusivity, Seattle’s less tribal nature drawing more disparate musicians together creating perhaps a more varied melting pot of sounds.
Fans of stadium rock, art rock, glam, metal as well as punk, reggae and jazz, a unique crucible of collaborators joining forces, the resultant musical output leading to the city’s global recognition before Microsoft and Starbucks were heard of outside the US.
Early pioneers included punk/metal crossover quintet Green River, formed in 1984, their debut EP ‘Dry as a Bone’ the first non-compilation release on the fledgling ‘Sub-Pop’ label, taking almost a year from recording to pressing due to cash-flow problems. Follow-up ‘Rehab Doll’ suffered a similarly protracted birth, the band effectively done as a live concern before recording finished, the age old story of creative differences and for some, the quest for a major label deal, putting paid to three years of hard work, the only evidence being the two aforementioned recordings, welded together on a single CD.
Despite little commercial success outside the American Northwest, Green River’s ashes proved fertile, frontman Mark Arm and original guitarist Steve Turner reuniting in new band Mudhoney, still making music 30 years later whilst proving inspirational to a then unknown Kurt Cobain. Green River’s other axeman Stone Gossard, together with bassist Jeff Ament, would ultimately garner the success they so craved in Pearl Jam, formed in the wake of other quality post Green River outfits Mother Love Bone, and Temple of the Dog.
Reforming as part of Sub Pop’s 20th anniversary celebrations, on reacquainting themselves with these recordings, the band members quickly reached the conclusion they could improve on the dated production, setting the wheels in motion for these 2019 reissues; that is, once Jack Endino had tracked down the original master tapes. Denuded of their original 80s textures as well as being separated into the two original recordings, ‘Dry as a Bone’ and ‘Rehab Doll’ both prove a revelation. The Rock & Roll rawness clearly inspired by Stooges and Sabbath in equal measure also sounds like they could have been captured at any point during the last fifty years, Mark Arm fine tuning his cartoon vocal we’d later enjoy on Mudhoney, yet at the same time, one can also understand why Gossard and Ament wanted to travel in a different direction, perhaps seeking to create something a little less frenetic. We even get a bunch of bonus tracks thrown in for good measure, ‘Dry as a Bone’ augmented with non-album single tracks ‘Together We’ll Never’, and ‘Ain’t Nothing to Do’, as well as several one-off numbers hewn from compilation albums of the time including ‘Sub Pop 200’ and ‘Deep Six’. On ’Rehab Doll’ we’re also treated to the original 8-track demo versions as well as their storming cover of Bowie’s ‘Queen Bitch’ originally only available as a bonus track on the cassette version.
What is in no doubt is that both of these rough diamonds deserve some spit, polish and another listen, yet another little known yet highly influential band given a deserved second moment in the limelight.
Words - Mike Price
Photographs - Charles Petersen
Photographs - Charles Petersen