Among the many band that constitued the Seattle ‘Grunge Scene’ of the late 1980’s, a handful failed to publish recorded material during their time, for one reason or another. A few posthumous documents were released by some of these bands during the 90’s. However, until now, one of the most prominent of these bands has been conspicuous in its absence from the record racks: Bundle of Hiss. I anticipate receiving a copy of this CD because my 12 year old cassette is wearing thin.
- Kim Thayil of Soundgarden
NEWS & REVIEWS
Among the many band that constitued the Seattle ‘Grunge Scene’ of the late 1980’s, a handful failed to publish recorded material during their time, for one reason or another. A few posthumous documents were released by some of these bands during the 90’s. However, until now, one of the most prominent of these bands has been conspicuous in its absence from the record racks: Bundle of Hiss. I anticipate receiving a copy of this CD because my 12 year old cassette is wearing thin.
- Kim Thayil of Soundgarden
Vintage Seattle grunge from one of the original practitioners of the style... I always felt sad that this hard-working band never managed to get a record out, thus being “lost to history” almost. It was a pleasure (and a technical pain!) to finally resurrect all this stuff, for my own enjoyment, for the band, and for whomever else might care.
-Jack Endino
An early Seattle Scene band that somehow managed to avoid becoming legendary, Bundle of Hiss is best remembered as the launching pad for Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters and Tad bassman Kurt Danielson. This 15 track collection shows BOH with a nice trio groove (with guitarist/vocalist Jamie Lane making three) and capable practitioners of the musical style that would become known as grunge. “Swamp” gets things going on a heavy note, with the psychedelic-influenced “Sleep No More” introducing the frenzied wah-wah pedal manipulation just regaining popularity at the time. A third highlight is “Drown”, another wah-wah drenched cut. There are nine songs from the later BOH and six tracks from an earlier, less formed version of the band (with Russ Bartlett providing the vocalizing). An interesting historical document, especially given the work producer Jack Endino went through to assemble this collection. The masters for three tracks were lost and were recontructed from a mix cassette; other tapes had to be dried out to eliminate basement mildew. Inspirational line: “My brain’s full of creosote!”
-J.R. Higgins, Backfire
Rescued from the depths of true obscurity, these bona fide flannel-waisted tracks epitomize the Seattle rock sound of the late ‘80s, with all the raucous riffs and noisy leads that made grunge so brutally delicious. These Sessions by Bundle of Hiss are a pre-‘90s, grunge fetishist’s long-lost wet dream, with Guitar that seize the center stage like fire-breathing strippers at a puppet show. The vehement drums and bass rock faultlessly and charismatically at every turn. The guitarist’s vocals on the first half of the album sound like they’ve come from the perfect bastard lovechild of Mark Arm and Ozzy. Even the lesser songs are saved by moments of awesome, jarring intensity. The energy here is timeless.
- Howie Wyman, Portland Mercury
Alongside stereos in bedrooms scattered along the I-5 corridor between Salem and Bellingham, slightly graying dudes wrap themselves in much-beloved flannels (purchased before it was trendy, they’ll have you know), don headphones and nod along to a CD of pummeling, slog-tempo drums, sub-Sabbath vocals and buzzing, chugging Guitar. Where did it all go wrong? This salvage job of previously lost recordings by proto-grunge quasi-legends reminds you why the vaunted “Seattle sound” became such a hot commodity. The bitterness and bile locked in BOH’s noise must have burned like vitriol up against the braindead pop of the era. Naturally, these methodical metal workouts sound a little stale these days, but then, they are almost 15 years old. Think about that.
Willamette Week
Bundle of Hiss, one of the lost Seattle God bands from the days before Subpop and grunge, helped create what would later be called the “Seattle Sound,” along with the likes of Green River, Soundgarden, The U-Men, Skinyard, Feast, The Melvins, Coffin Break, Malfunkshun, H-Hour, Chemistry Set, Mother Love Bone, Room Nine, Screaming Trees, 64 Spiders, Vexed, Pure Joy, and many others. The last BOH show was supposed to feature a then new band called Nirvana, who canceled at the last minute. Bundle of Hiss recorded a lot of material, but never released any before they broke up (spawning Mudhoney and Tad) after eight years (‘80-‘88) developing a heavy punk sound that many bands worldwide would later copy--not because they’d heard Bundle of Hiss, but because they’d heard their contemporaries, with whom BOH had a certain amount in common musically. Like Soundgarden, with whom Bundle of Hiss shared the stage on many occasions, Bundle of Hiss had a bottom-heavy sound that revolved around the vocals. However, unlike their contemporaries, Bundle of Hiss incorporated more post-punk influences into their unique sound, creating songs that had as much in common with Gang of Four and Joy Division as they did with the Stooges, Led Zeppelin, or Black Sabbath. In other words, the bass and drums were in the forefront of the BOH sound, along with the guitar and vocals. It will be interesting to finally hear the BOH material; rumors that BOH tapes exist have circulated for years. But no one ever really thought they’d get a chance to hear them. Now, it appears they will, thanks to Jack Endino and the members of BOH.
-Kurt S. Danielson
Split into two nearly equal halves (‘86, ‘87/‘88), Sessions proves that BOH were years ahead of the early ‘90s Seattle game, pouring bucketfuls of dark(er) Zep-isms onto their rainy-day scuzz rock, funky washes of wah-wah buzzing around like the bong being rattled in the background, Jamie Lane’s minor-chorded guitar stumbling upon a melody here and there in the garbage can -- at times, the fuzz-boxed din closely resembles the Scientists (!) on a more metalized trip, especially on the slow-burn mantra of “Rabies.” Surprisingly, the sound presented on both sessions is clear, distorted, and quintessentially “pig fuck” garaged like so many Endino abortions in the late ‘80s, ever compounding the dirty grooves offered up for maximum mane-shaking. Sadly, Sessions will probably leave most youngsters scratching their heads in disinterested confusion, as sounds like these certainly have an etched-in-stone era aura about them, but they’re by no means conventionally “dated” considering all the recycled tripe that passes for originality in these indie-intensive times: kool thing, Sessions is.
- Nathan T. Birk, Ink 19
