As the frontman of Green River, Mark Arm sang on the first record that Sub Pop marketed with the word grunge. When the bands Dry as a Bone EP came out in 1987, the label described it as ultra-loose grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation. At the time, it was a throwaway term that described the quality of the music more than a genre signifier. In the early Eighties, it was just more of an adjective, like, Thats just really grungy, like, gnarly,' Arm says. It meant a raw, fucked-up thing.
Within a couple of years, though, Arm was fronting Mudhoney and was part of what the media was describing as a grunge movement bands from the Seattle area that played a hybrid of punk and metal without the generic rock-star overindulgence. When I was in Green River, it hadnt yet become The Big G, like, These are these bands, and Im pretty sure the guys in Pearl Jam were wondering why their music is called grunge, he says. Cause its not raspy like how we all used the term in the Eighties. As for himself, Mudhoney being tagged grunge didnt bother him but in my mind it was weird to be lumped in with Candlebox.
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Since Rolling Stone ranked the 50 Greatest Grunge Albums earlier this week, and Arm performed on five of them three with Green River, including the Deep Six comp, and two with Mudhoney we asked him to pick his favorite grunge albums. He said that instead hed rather make a list of grungy albums, going by the original definition of the word that he grew up with. Below are his picks in chronological order.
The Sonics, Boom (1966)
Theres grungy stuff that happened before the Sonics, but I picked Boom because its got two songs that kind of pointed the way of the future. One is Hes Waitin, which has a proto-metal riff and the person whos waiting is Satan. And then Cinderella, to me, is just a punk song.
The Sonics were from Washington and there was a push at one point to make Louie Louie the state song. [Sonics guitarist] Larry [Parypa] was in a covers band called Charlie and the Tunas, which rushed out a version of Louie Louie and the Sonics version is on Boom. That version of Louie Louie is the darkest. Motrhead did a version and Black Flag did a version, but the Sonics version beats them all.
I would have discovered this album around 1980. There used to be a magazine called Trouser Press. If my memory is correct, Mick Farren wrote about the first two records, which had been re-released. It cracked me up that I learned about a band in my backyard from a British guy.
The Stooges, Fun House (1970)
I love all the Stooges records, but Fun House is definitely the rawest. They recorded the vocals going live through a PA, so it adds that extra grit to the vocals. I liked Dirt because its got that slow burn. Its got one of the coolest rhythm parts bass and drums of all time. Its simple but kind of innovative, and its all really feel. Then, on top of it, Ron [Ashetons] guitar and Iggy [Pops] vocals kind of play off each other. Its pretty remarkable. But then theres also the chugging of Down on the Street, which is almost metal, and then Loose and T.V. Eye are more punk rock. Side two turns into what the fusion of jazz and rock should have been.
Randy Holden, Population II (1970)
Randy Holden had probably been in bands since the early Sixties before this. He was in the Other Half, which did that song Mr. Pharmacist, and he played on one side of the third Blue Cheer record. So on Population II, I think he wanted to make his own statement and re-recorded one of the songs he did with Blue Cheer, Fruit & Icebergs. It has just one of the most awesome, howling, sustained guitar solos, and its a pretty crude recording. I think the band is just him and the drummer. Its all about guitar.
Population II was a record I had read about in the early Eighties and never, ever saw. When we were on tour in the early Nineties, I saw it in a record store in Vienna and I was like, Holy shit, this is the record Ive been looking for. Things were a little harder to come by in those days.
Hawkwind, Doremi Fasol Latido (1972)
Its hard to pick a Hawkwind record, but this might be my go-to cause its just a little more crudely recorded and all the songs are great. Its very psychedelic. It sounds like its being played inside of a jet engine or something. Brainstorm is a classic and I like The Time We Left This World Today, The Watcher and Space Is Deep. Just the concept of space being deep is pretty fucking awesome.
I never saw Hawkind live, but I did see Nik Turners Hawkwind, which had more original or older members of Hawkwind than Hawkwind did at the time.
Discharge, Why (1981)
Discharge did a couple of singles before Why? but then they did this 12-inch EP, and its so insanely raw sounding. It starts with this guitar chord on Visions of War, and all of a sudden theres this loud, booming noise. I was like, What the fuck is that? And then you realize its the bass once it starts playing a riff. Like, Holy shit. I just like the whole vibe of it. I like the title track, and then they have titles like Mania for Conquest and Maimed and Slaughtered. Its like a bulldozer coming at you.
When I first heard it, I was used to the Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks and Black Flag stuff. Then when I heard Discharge, I was like, Holy shit, I dont even know where to put this. It was just so raw and noisy, which is saying something. All the songs are under two minutes and are about nuclear war. Later, when they did Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing, it was almost like musique concrte it was all one song with just little breaks.
Bobby Soxx, Scavenger of Death / (Learn to) Hate in the 80s (1981)
I guess Bobby Soxxs main band was Stickmen With Rayguns. He had a couple of other bands, but for some reason, there was just one single he put out as Bobby Soxx. (Learn to) Hate in the 80s was pretty straight-up, really nasty punk. And then Scavenger of Death was just this heavy, grinding, minor-key dirge with the nastiest vocals. It was pretty awesome.
I know this is supposed to be a list of albums, but I think Scavenger of Death has got the slow thing to it, and it starts off with a cowbell drumbeat. When I revisited this album, I learned that he died a few years ago and that he wasnt necessarily a really good dude.
Hellhammer, Apocalyptic Raids (1984)
I remember when this came out, it was a 12-inch with four songs. When you see that, you automatically think its a 45 [r.p.m.], right? But it turned out it was a 33 and it sounds great on both speeds.
My favorite song on this, the one that I think points to grunge, is Triumph of Death. Its this really long, grinding, slow song, and it just starts off with them trying to get different notes out of feedback. To me, it sounds like a ship negotiating giant swells, and theyre trying to stay in place. Its awesome. Its also a funny record. And the cover has this goat animal with a crazy penis. It came out a little bit before the PMRC.
Tales of Terror, Tales of Terror (1984)
Seeing them live and then getting their record was pretty influential. They were pretty loose, and the record sounds to me like they were just hammered as they were recording it. But it all holds together. The songs sound like theyre in danger of careening in all different directions and not quite making it to the end of the song. But at the same time, it sounds like it actually isnt a problem because theyre really good musicians; theyre just fucked up.
The record opens with Hound Dog, but I usually skip that one. Their own songs are better than Hound Dog. Deathryder is a killer one, and Romance is a great song. Jim, Chamber of Horrors, Possession theyre all great songs.
When they came to town, no one knew who they were. They were just this touring punk band. I went down to see them, they came on and it was just like, Holy fucking shit. What is that? The singer was doing backflips. By the end of the show, everyone was just wrapped up in cords. And it didnt seem like a contrived thing. It was chaos, but it was controlled. They were just insane.
The third time they came to town, these skateboard thugs threw this party for them, and they were just clearly getting shitfaced the whole time. I remember watching the drummer stagger his way across the stage and get behind the drums. Within the first or second song, the singer was, like, face down on the stage and was passed out for the rest of the show. It was like, Well, its not quite as awesome as their first show, but it sure is something.
Cosmic Psychos, Down on the Farm (1985)
This is their first EP. Its got five songs on it, and three of them are over six minutes long. Grunge isnt really known for brevity. Its another case of a band with super distorted bass that just holds everything down. The guitarist who played on the first two records is amazing and had this really great wah-wah style. After this record, this songs became mostly short, and they edited themselves down. Before I met these guys, I just thought they were scary, weird people making this crazy-ass music. And theyre pussycats really.
Fuzz, Fuzz (2013)
Fuzz is my only recent thing on here. The second one is sort of a double album. Its really long, so I just went with the first one, because I think its a little more to-the-point. It seems like this band has internalized a lot of the things Ive been talking about. Theyre definitely familiar with Blue Cheer, so they are probably familiar with Randy Holden, Hawkwind and things like that. The guitar sounds super great.
I got into them because Larry Hardy, who runs In the Red Records [which put this out] sent me a copy and said, I think youd like this. And he was right. And then we did this short West Coast tour with them, and they were awesome. Watching them totally gets you psyched to play.