The Machine Known As Man

BLEACH
6/15/1989

Soundgarden's first two EPs (which we'll be getting to, settle) were released on Sub Pop Records, a Seattle-based indie label that would proceed to put out records by the legendary likes of Green River, Mudhoney, and Cat Butt before lucking onto the latest racket-gang to call themselves Nirvana.

Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic started the band not in Seattle, but their hometown of Aberdeen, a logging town located two hours to the southwest. After two years of super-loud gigs and mega-rough demos, Nirvana (supplemented with drummer Chad Channing) entered the studio with producer/musician/local legend Jack Endino to cut their $600 debut. Set on giving Sub Pop more of the sonic aesthetic the label was known for, Nirvana delivered an album short on hooks and long on negative vibes.

"Blew"--Catchy bits exist on Bleach; "Blew" is perhaps the finest of them. Repetitive, since depression tends towards repetition. (It's dangerous to go alone! But no one else'll put up with me!) The chorus is the cry of the perpetual rear-bringer-upper. Why is second place so undesirable? Second still gets a medal.

"Floyd the Barber"--Chad Channing doesn't hold the sticks for all of the album. "Floyd" is one of three cuts featuring the gargantuan talents of Melvins drummer Dale Crover.

I mean, all good fucks are twisted one way or another, but goddamn. One thing's 100%, Ron Howard will not direct the Nirvana biopic.

"About A Girl"--Legend states that Kurt Cobain wrote the bulk of Bleach's lyrics on the eve of recording. Which means turning moon-faced 1950s entertainment into debauched fanfic. Which means turning an emotionally distant romance into one of the best songs he'd ever write. "About A Girl" is the earliest evidence of Cobain's melodic gifts, gorgeously unwrapped.

"School"--To hear Kurt tell it, Aberdeen was a swirling pool of antifreeze and light beer, so had this music thing not happened, he likely would have died there. Anyone who's ever lived in abject fear of breathing their last in the same place they breathed their first will feel his anguish in their bones.

(Home, further, to one of my favorite Nirvana mondegreens: "You're an asshole again.")

"Love Buzz"--The decision to release "Love Buzz" as a single is surpassed in weirdness only by the decision to cover it in the first place. Krist is hooded and knife-wielding, so I don't mind that I can't understand what Kurt's talking about down there by his elbow.

"Paper Cuts"--My birthday buddy is back! (I really need to make a Weird Al/Dale Crover playlist.) Think fat guy who is utterly clueless as to his sheer volume whilst doing anything and everything.

"Negative Creep"--I thought weed was supposed to cheer y'up?

Self-Portrait of the Artist As An Average Guy Who Isn't Really. Every second tells us to piss off or get pissed on.

"Scoff"--So what, wart on yer finger. Is it gangrenous? No? Then shut it or suck it.

If only things were that easy. Kids gonna kid, parents gonna parent. I have more fingers on my hands than conversations with my father.

"Swap Meet"--When the cat's away, the mice will take over the litter box. The ways in which we de-prioritize one another and hasten the end, sounding far more upbeat than they've any right to sound.

"Mr. Moustache"--A frenetic disavowal of macho macho men. Admirable as Nirvana's sociopolitical sensitivities were, this is pretty forgettable.

"Sifting"--Thick-fingered offering with a bit of the old wordplay on the side. No recess, but yes rehash.



So ends Nirvana's first album (unless you're listening to the CD reissue, which tacked on "Big Cheese" and "Downer," and I do mean tacked on). The first four songs are fan-damn, arguably the best four-hit combo of Nirvana's short career. I maintain, however, that claims of Bleach's superiority to its immediate successor are utter sophistry. I can accept that it's still overlooked, somehow, in that people acknowledge it as important while not giving the actual songs due praise.

Still Sub Pop's biggest-selling record, incidentally.