(Sup Pop - 1989)
Bleach,
released in June 1989 was the roar that only a handful heard. It was a very
respectful handful - at a time whenthe indie/alternative rock scene had no
muscle in the market-place, the record exceeded all expectations by selling30,000
copies over two years. But the record's well-chiseled punk-metal fury hardly
heralded the Nirvanamania thatwas to come. After Bleach, every Nirvana
album would be an event - a grand dispatch to be scrutinized, analyzed,celebrated
and/or vilified. But the band's first full-lenght release enjoyed the comfort
of simply being a very good album from a mostly unknown band.
The album saved as something of a metal exorcism for Cobain as a song writer.
The recod is packed with riffs that owe some debt to all those Black Sabbath
and Black Flag tapes that Buzz Osborne from the Melvins had turned Cobain
on to, and there are only a few hints, as in 'About a girl', of the pop craftmanship
that Cobain would soon put to use. Lyrically, the songs on Bleach reveal
what would become an enduring Cobain trademark - a bent toward meaningful
meaninglessness. Listeners attempting to decipher the message behind 'Sifting'
- just like listeners later trying to suss out 'Smells like teen spirit' -
could understandably be driven to cries of, "What is he talking about?"
But while Cobain seemed to be mumbling nonsense - what he might not communicate
in cogent narrative was more than clear in the intensity of delivery.
Some of the songs on Bleach sound like an understandable testing of
the song written waters for Cobain - the one-note joke of a song such as 'Floyd
the barber' almost registers as a Nirvana novelty tune now. But the strength
and confidence of the music on Bleach trend to disguise the fact that
at the time of its creation Cobain was a penniless, sometimes homeless drop-out,
racked with self-doubts and uncertainties about his future. Actually, a good
deal of the record's driving energy comes from the way Cobain and the band
can turn dread and hopelessness into exultation. Being a 'Negative Creep'
is nothing to be thrilled about, but the way the band bashed out that song's
dumpy feelings made it a weird cry of personal triumph and self-loathing at
one and the same time.
Quite soon, Cobain would be assured enough as a writer to examine himself
even more closely and make himself extremely vulnerable in this songs, but
on Bleach - admissions to being a creep notwithstanding - he tended
to create characters ('Mr. Moustache') or scenarios ('School')that offered
a bit of cover.
As a band, Nirvana was just beginning to coalesce when recording for Bleach
began. Cobain and Novoselic had quickly realized that thay enjoyed working
together. They first began playing together 1986 (in a space above Novoselic's
mom's beauty shop), but direction, and a solid drummer, were harder to come
by. In early 1987, the two had begun rehearsing with a drummer named Aaron
Burckhard, and it was with him that they played their first gigs in Olympia
and Tacoma, under such names as Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred, Bliss, the Sellouts,
Pen Cap Chew, Throat Oyster and Windowspane. Finally, with its ironic implication
in mind, Cobain decided to go with Nirvana. (These implications were made
clearer in the song 'Paper Cuts'.) The name stuck, although the band would
eventually have to settle copyrights suits with a pair of other Nirvanas.
The band's first demo was recorded with Burckhard - a taped radio show for
the college station in Olympia - but when Burckhard tired of the number of
rehearsals that his bandmates invisted on, they turned to their friend from
the Melvnis, drummer Dale Crover, and asked if he would help them record a
proper demo. Crover agreed, and on January 23, 1988, the band spent a day
recording at Reciprocal Recordings studio in Seattle with the help of producer
Jack Endino (born Michael Giacondino). Of the 10 songs recorded that day,
three - 'Floyd the barber', 'Paper cuts' and 'Downer' - ended up on Bleach,
while another four turned on Incesticide.
Cobain began sending off the demo to the small record labels he was aware
of - Chicago's Touch&Go, San Francisco's Alternative Tentacles and Southern
California's SST. He didn't send a copy to the budding mini-label closest
to him - Seattle's Sub Pop. But Endino was impressed enough with that day's
work to hand a copy of the tape over to Sub Pop co-owner Jonathan Poneman.
Poneman also liked what he heard, and shortly thereafter asked the band if
they would be interested in putting out a single on Sub Pop.
They were, but finding a permanent drummer was a continuing problem as the
band gigged around Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle. Crover had moved to San Francisco
with the Melvins. A replacement he suggested, Dave Foster, didn't work out,
and a second round with Burckhard was unsatisfactory. Finally , Cobain and
Novoselic drafted Bainbridge Island native Chad Channing to hold down the
beat. With Channing, the band returned to Reciprocal on June 11, 1988, to
record the 'Love buzz'/'Big cheese' single.
The band continued to play out, to write, and to rehearse, and in December
and January 1989 spent more time at Reciprocal with Endino to record the rest
of the album. Studio time cost the band just over $600, which Sub Pop was
not going to front and which Cobain, Novoselic and Channing couldn't cover.
But, anticipating the record's release and an ensuing club tour, the trio
had decided to take on a second guitarist, a player named Jason Everman.
Everman put the money, and was credided as part of the band on the sleeve
of Bleach, although he hadn't played a note on the record.
With recording finished, the foursome did begin a West Coast tour in February
1989. The album was still untitled at that point, but during a stay in San
Francisco, tha band took note of a strong, ubiquitous public health campaign
designed to fight the spread of AIDS by advising intravenous drug users to
clean theit needles thoroughly with bleach. Bleach was being dispensed as
part of clean needle exchange program, and the band even spotted a guy downtown
dressed up as a bleach bottle in order to spread the bleach message. Having
found a way to call up images of cleanliness, filth, health and disease in
one simple word, the band went with it. Bleach, the album, came out
that June.
Speaking of that periode to Journalist Gina Arnold in a 1992 Option magazine
article, Novoselic recalled, "We didn't know anything about Sub Pop.
We just loved playing. It's just so totally fun. It was the most important
thing in my life at the time. It was awesome."
-"Teen Spirit", Chuck Crisafulli-
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