Bundle of Hiss c/o Loveless Records 1122 E. Pike St. #1361 Seattle, WA 98122

Kurt Danielson (Bass) and Russ Bartlett (vocals) started Bundle of Hiss in 1980, churning through various guitarists and drummers. They eventually ended up in Seattle, where they hooked up with drummer Dan Peters, then a tender lad of fifteen and a half. After the original guitarist Jeff Hopper quit the band to pursue a degree in computer science at Western WA University, Jamie Lane met Kurt in a UW poetry workshop and stepped in on guitar. The band started practicing at Dan's Seattle Green Lake garret bedroom, from which they could hear Lloyd, the geriatric neighbor, yelling at them to turn down the damned drums! This was in '84. While these years passed, Russ, Kurt, and Jamie got their degrees. But that didn't stop them from playing. At the end of '86, Russ Bartlett left the band to pursue a solo career. Jamie stepped vigorously up to the mic, nudging the Hiss into a slightly different world of sonic lunacy. Bundle of Hiss played out most of the remainder of their career as a three-piece with Jamie on guitar/vocals, Kurt on bass and a few backup vox, and Dan on drums (except for tunes including Tad Doyle on guitar and back up vox on some of the Audio Designs recordings and certain Lost Tracks from the Lost Reel). Jon Poneman and Bruce Pavitt, were at that time starting a label called Sub Pop, named after Bruce's column which used to appear in the Rocket. Sub Pop showed interest in the new Bundle of Hiss demos. Meanwhile, Dan started to play drums in Mudhoney. BOH included Tad in his first and last show in June 1988; shortly before the show Jamie abruptly quit to pursue a graduate degree in English. However, Jamie did play that last show, and the band's dissolution was amicable. Dan went to work on Mudhoney full-time. Kurt and Tad formed TAD. This BOH release completes an historical circuit. The press has documented Mudhoney and Tad quite well. We know that both bands served as Sub Pop's flagship artists; we also know that both bands moved on to the majors to varying degrees of acclaim. We think the Bundle of Hiss release is an important NW music artifact. Here we have documented the sound of Bundle of Hiss and the scope of their influence at last.      --Hank Sumatra, 2/25/99