The Vaselines

Straight outta Glasgow, the Vaselines were one of those truly underground bands from the mid 80s who would have been at the apex of 90s counterculture, if they made it that far. In fact, they did in a way, with the help of a little outfit called Nirvana. You may recall such popular cover tracks as "Molly's Lips" from Nirvana's '89 debut, Bleach, and "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam" from the seminal 1993 Unplugged Sessions. Kurt Cobain frequently cited this male/female twopiece as one of his favorite bands, and turned their mix of sunshine pop, punk and 60s sensibilities into grunge classico. Hell, even the cover of their new anthology from Sub Pop looks right out of 1967 instead of '87.

I discovered the band after seeing a movie about Cobain and listening to the reissue of Nirvana's "Bleach." I would have expected Cobain's influences to include the likes of bands such as the Sex Pistols and Black Flag, but this is an example of his musical diversity, and possibly an ingredient to Nirvana's melodic success.

Sub Pop's compilation of their four-year heydey, along with demos and live tracks, offers a snapshot of the Vaselines' diverse style. My best description thus far is a combo of bands such the Mamas and the Papas, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground and the Moldy Peaches. This all comes together through the band's unique harmonies on tracks like "Son of a Gun," a song catchy enough to consistently remain in my head for the last week. Here's a recent acoustic version from a session with Seattle's KEXP:



As for the aforementioned "Molly's Lips," the Vaseline's version is quite a departure from Cobain's post-punk attack, but you can still hear the electric take in this seemingly innocent, sing-songy approach. The album version of "Molly's Lips" even features some sort of kazoo-like instrument, which shows that the band didn't take themselves, or their music, too seriously.



Finally, another one of my fave tracks, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," doesn't include the accordian from Nirvana's Unplugged cover, but another great example of unique harmonies, memorable hooks and insightful lyrics. My only guess is they aren't the churchgoing types.



OK, for comparison, here's the Nirvana Unplugged performance of "Jesus..."



The Vaselines have been active in recent years, popping up to perform at benefits and one-off shows at old stomping grounds. Wikipedia even told me they recently played with Mudhoney in Edinburgh to support the HMV Picture House. As we await some new material from the band, give a listen to the Vaselines - you might hear some old favorites, open your ears to new sounds and add to your growing Scottish rock music collection.

Catch a Tiger by His Tales

First off, have you seen his wife?? Why would he need to cheat on THAT?





















In what may be the biggest water-cooler-gossip-muck-someone's-reputation-through-the-mud incident since Michael Jackson (that's NOT that long of time...tells what kind of society we live in), figured I chime in on this whole traffic accident meets triple affair ordeal.

First off, I think Tiger does owe an explanation...to alot of people, actually. Whether he and Charles Barkley like it or not, they are role models who hundreds, maybe thousands of people look up to, mostly kids. What kind of example is this to set? Little Timmy, Tiger cheated on his wife, maybe three times...maybe once right before his wife gave birth to his first child, but he's a good guy, be like him. Oh, and he lied, told some lame excuse about his wife 'saving' him from a fire-hydrant accident by smashing a golf club in his back window (when, if she was really saving him, that's a little far from the driver). But yeah, good guy. Remember, Team Tiger, we are your first employers.

Tiger apologists, who there are many, will say it's his personal problem and we should leave him alone, let them deal with it privately. I agree, if he were a private figure. But he's not, and if he wants all the rewards and accolades and media attention for doing good, he better expect the reverse treatment when he does bad. The media have been just short of waving pom poms and doing the splits when cheerleading for Tiger. He's had his mulligans, so now he needs to explain this to his buddies in the media. Employer #2.

Then there's the responsibility to his sponsors. Golf is still a conservative sport...I mean, there are still ass-backwards people who have issues with Tiger even playing the game. Those same people, hypocrites as they may be, might not want to buy products from a wife cheater who hangs out with skanky cocktail waitresses. I think he owes a good explanation, and maybe pay back some endorsement money (will never happen) to his third round of employers.

Listen, I've always liked Eldrick Woods...even did a promotion where my 'job' was to follow him around for 18 holes, which was pretty awesome. It's a sad turn of events, because he has been an amazing athlete who has more than lived up to expectations. And he will recover from this, albeit with a lowercase 't'. But like other high-profile figures during our time, from Bill Clinton to that punk A-Rod, he needs to move out from behind his little statements and really own up to these mistakes. Oh, and he should get demerit points for just being stupid. Text messages and calls on cell phones?? C'mon, watch an Episode of the Sopranos and you'll know not to do that!

One positive thing that has come from this saga: since it's blurred the lines between sport and celeb gossip, it's a common ground for me to talk to the girls at work about.