Back in town. Anybody else read this article from the Times UK about Nirvana? Pretty weak sauce. Some quotes:
“Stone Temple Pilots and Live — bands who, a decade ago, were clearly marked as the diluted, corporate answer to Nirvana but now seem to be viewed by a new generation of rock fans as grunge legends of equal standing. A quick scan of the hallowed top eight friends on the Nirvana MySpace page provides something of a surprise, with pride of place going to the wholly catchy, not remotely tortured Weezer and Blink-182.”
I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone who thought Stone Temple Pilots were on the same plane as Nirvana. Sure, “Interstate Love Song” is good and who doesn’t like “Vaseline,” but come on.
And Weezer is not remotely tortured? Well, sure…if you ignore their masterwork.
But the general thesis of the article–that Nirvana has aged poorly–pretty much directly contradicts with my experience. I was a little bit young to really be into them (I was 12 when Cobain died), but in my high school years fell for them, and hard. Since then, I’ll go awhile without listening to them and then hear a song, remember just how great they really sound, and have to put on the whole catalog.
I mean, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and the whole Nevermind album are one of the few examples where popular imagination and reality match up perfectly. That opening guitar riff, those drums, the Platonic ideal of the loud/soft dynamic, Kurt’s voice. It’s the closest thing to an “I Want to Hold Your Hand” that my generation ever got.
Anyways, here’s a few (slightly) less well-known Nirvana songs, and a cover that I picked up recently.
Molly’s Lips – from Incesticide
A number of my favorite Nirvana songs are covers of The Vaselines. This one, “Son of a Gun” (also on Incesticide), and “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunbeam” (from Unplugged in New York). This one shows the band at their melodic-punk-grunge finest and was (I think) the final single they released on Sub Pop.
Verse Chorus Verse – from the No Alternative compilation
My best friend in high school (a serious Nirvana afficienado) said this song might be his favorite by them. It’s not quite that high for me (it’s gotta be “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Heart Shaped Box” for me), but I can’t really argue.
Lithium – Polyphonic Spree
More a novelty than anything else, it’s still pretty interesting to hear the Spree take on Cobain’s homage to mental illness.
In other news, the Bill Clinton interview on Fox from this weekend just reminds me once again how much I wish we could have him back as the president. He don’t take no guff.
And, while I’m on the subject of politicians, I encourage everyone to check out some of the best (and most hilarious) campaign ads I’ve ever seen from the Vermont Senatorial campaign. My favorite one:
Against kids!
And the absolute best line is about 24 seconds in when it shifts to the close-up so he can repeat: “child molesters…”
Oh, George Kuusela, what will you say next?
It’s especially funny once you understand that Rich Tarrant is going to lose in a landslide, and is funding the entire campaign out of his own pocket. Oh, and Sanders is a Socialist.