One of those bands whose fans — namely a certain Kurt Cobain — are better-known than the group itself, Scotland’s recently reunited Vaselines will receive a well-deserved reintroduction on May 5, thanks to Sub Pop’s 2CD, 3LP deluxe reissue Enter The Vaselines.
Cobain famously declared the Vaselines’ founders Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee his “most favorite songwriters in the whole world.”
Nirvana’s covers of the band’s “Son of a Gun” and “Molly’s Lips” were compiled on the odds-and-sods collection Incesticide, while Cobain and Co., in a nod to the Vaselines, performed the traditional “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” on “MTV Unplugged.”
As noted on NYLVI’s excellent blog, the new collection “will gather up and remaster everything the Vaselines ever recorded, including unreleased demos and live recordings.”
As Sub Pop explains on its page for the reissue:
This new collection is effectively a deluxe-edition reissue of the 1992 Sub Pop release The Way of The Vaselines with a new title and new cover art from the band, and a whole lot of new material (the entirety of the 17-song second CD/third LP has been added). Originally mastered from a cassette tape, The Way of The Vaselines compiled the band’s two EPs (Son of a Gun and Dying for It) and their sole LP release (Dum-Dum). Enter The Vaselines is the definitive triple LP/double CD Vaselines collection. It includes new mixes and re-mastered versions of everything by The Vaselines, plus never-before-heard demos, and live recordings from 1986 in Bristol and 1988 in London.
Kelly and McKee reformed the Vaselines last year and have played several benefit concerts and festivals since, including the band’s first-ever U.S. performance at a warm-up for its appearance at Sub Pop’s 20th Anniversary Festival.
As for current plans, the band’s playing in London tonight and will appear at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain, on May 28.
Tracklist: Enter The Vaselines
- “Son of a Gun”
- “Rory Rides Me Raw”
- “You Think You’re a Man”
- “Dying for It”
- “Molly’s Lips”
- “Teenage Superstars”
- “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam”
- “Sex Sux (Amen)”
- “Slushy”
- “Monsterpussy”
- “Bitch”
- “No Hope”
- “Oliver Twisted”
- “The Day I Was a Horse”
- “Dum Dum”
- “Hairy”
- “Lovecraft”
- “Dying for It (The Blues)”
- “Let’s Get Ugly”
- “Son of A Gun” (demo)
- “Rosary Job” (demo)
- “Red Poppy” (demo)
- “Son of A Gun” (live in Bristol)
- “Rosary Job” (live in Bristol)
- “Red Poppy” (live in Bristol)
- “Rory Rides Me Raw” (live in Bristol)
- “You Think You’re a Man” (live in Bristol)
- “Dying for It” (live in London)
- “Monsterpussy” (live in London)
- “Let’s Get Ugly” (live in London)
- “Molly’s Lips” (live in London)
- “The Day I Was a Horse” (live in London)
- “The Day I Was A Horse (Again)” (live in London)
- “Sex Sux (Amen)” (live in London)
- “I Didn’t Know I Loved You (‘Til I Saw You Rock ‘n’ Roll)” (live in London)
- “Teenage Superstars” (live in London)
