Nirvana : 'Bleach'
Released: 2nd November 2009
Label: Sub Pop
Bleach. An unusual name for an album, but one that actually sounds pretty cool. Unorthodox; against “the man”. Fitting therefore, that as the likes of the pop cretin from X factor take over our television screens every weekend, this pivotal album in the world of grunge celebrates its 20th anniversary. Specially re-released as a “deluxe” edition on 2nd November, the album not only features re-mastered recordings of the original tracks but an unreleased performance at Portland’s Pine Street Theatre in 1990.
Kicking off with a dirty, grimey bassline is album opener “Blew”. As the heavy bassline dominates the opening proceedings, it is smashed to bits by even dirtier, grungier guitar. Cobains rasping voice lazily flows out of the speakers, before rising in urgency. What originally smacks me about this track, and ultimately affects my enjoyment over the remainder of the LP, is how basic the lyrics are. As well as being straight-forward and uninspiring, they are often repeated over and over again on numerous occasions. That said, the solo in this song is absolutely fantastic, giving it another dimension.
Second track “Floyd the Barber” is one of the stand-out tracks on the LP. Simply, it is a disjointed mess of utter genius. Lyrically crude, it tells a fascinating yet sordid tale of pure filth. It brings rather disturbing lyrics to the mind in the form of: “Barney ties me to the chair, I can't see, I'm really scared, Floyd breathes hard, I hear a zip, Pee-Pee pressed against my lips”. The music is stop-start, classic grunge. A thoroughly interesting track.
The album rocks through the guitar-jangling “About a Girl”, the stomping, catchy bass rhythm of “Love Buzz” and the insanely reminiscent punk sound of “Scoff”. Furthermore, a particularly fantastic track on the album can be found in the form of “Paper Cuts”. Beginning with that familiar, bass-grunge entrance, it is accompanied by shrieking guitar feedback. Dark, eccentric, weird, and ultimately evil-sounding, it is another heartfelt yet mentally disturbing tale. “Cannot look me in the eyes, but I see hers and they are blue, and they cock and twitch and masturbate!” are such words included in the song. That says it all really, though it is a strangely compelling listen.
“Negative Creep” is another completely insane song that features on Bleach. Opening with a howling Cobain amidst a frantic pace, the front man shrieks “I’m a negative creep, I’m a negative creep, I’m a negative creep and I’m stoned!”. For all my criticism about how bland the lyrics contained on the Bleach LP are, this song just smacks as fantastic. It gives fantastic imagery of somebody who clearly doesn’t give a f**k and wants to get out of his face. Angry, driving guitar is accompanied by the manic yet reliable drumming from the absolute drumming God which is Dave Grohl. Fantastic.
I must say though, from this point onwards, the album just dropped in all interest for me. Songs began sounding the same and lyrics developed into even more pointless lines, such as “Take my hand and keep it clean, yes I eat cow – I am not proud” in “Mr. Mustache”. The album had given a really good vibe until this point; one of clear insanity yet different, well-constructed tracks.
Although I wouldn’t want to deface this album as a complete write-off (after all, it is a grunge icon, and a half-decent LP) it is easy to see why this didn’t immediately distinguish Nirvana from the other bands in the Seattle scene, instead having to wait until their second album before unleashing their rawness and anger across the world. Guess we’ll just have to wait until Nevermind is re-released to confirm this.
5/10
Words : Alex Read
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