A thread for the discussion of Nirvana's "Incesticide"

In some ways, this is my favorite Nirvana album. Random thoughts:

- Generally not as metal-sounding as Bleach, and even more lo-fi
- The most insular and ragtag assortment of songs they recorded
- A lot of strange curiosities, odds and ends
- Like going to a Nirvana flea market
- It's as close to the hidden Nirvana "back story" (i.e. not the public face) as I've heard

Your thoughts on this weird, wild collection?

I like Bleach, but I think Incesticide fucking sucks. But even though I think Incesticide fucking sucks, I cannot even begin to call it overrated, because it gets no attention. I only knew about the album from seeing it in a store. I've only known one person on the internet who likes this album, and none in real life. How can that be overrated?

"Silver" is probably one of the top 5 beloved nirvana songs

the thing i realized about this album is that Nirvana's worst songs are better than a lot of bands' best songs. i like this album a lot, but i can totally see how people might think these songs are slight. despite that, i feel like they still rule in their own small way.

Love a lot of tracks off this - New Wave Polly, Aneurysm, Sliver, and Downer (kills) but as an album it doesn't rate for me over In Utero, Bleach, or Teen Spirit.

An over-hyped, over-rated and average compilation album. I honestly don't see why anybody gives this so much attention.

you just said it wasn't overrated

I cannot even begin to call it overrated

8 minutes later ...

An over-hyped, over-rated and average compilation album

good job

lol

People really haven't noticed what nakh's doing, have they?

i guess not

Been a Son is pretty brilliant.

otm

Anyway, I love Incesticide, and I'm with the OP that it might be my favourite.

as an album it doesn't rate for me over... Teen Spirit

O RLY? Lol.

People really haven't noticed what nakh's doing, have they?

― emil.y, Tuesday, 19 February 2013 17:10 (2 minutes ago)

are you saying this schtick is overrated? i think you are, aren't you http://i.imgur.com/8aD5fCq.gif

Heard "Hairspray Queen" w/my ipod on shuffle yesterday and was like, "Damn, that's a good song."

^___^

xxxpost e.mily uh. okay.

i learned how to play guitar (kind of) by playing along with this album but i haven't heard it in a millions years

'Dive', 'Sliver', 'Been A Son' and 'Aneurysm' are all great, love the cover of 'Son Of A Gun', and I have a soft spot for 'Hairspray Queen'... I wouldn't put this up their three proper studio albums though.

Anyone ever hear the Manic Street Preacher's cover of "Been a Son"? Crazy stuff there-- delta blues slide guitar deal.

All Nirvana is pretty sweet, I'm of the generation that was rocking out to them when i was 12 or whatever and KC forever changed my life etc etc. That youtube comparing the different mixes was very helpful cos i always had a hard time hearing any differences. The "Nevermind is such a polished sell-out" meme that has been going on for decades and which i'm frankly sick of sort of had the reverse effect on me. I figured the rejection of the Albini mixes for being 'unreleasable' or whatever was part of Geffen's marketing dept. or something. If you were the label that sold the album that 'broke punk', wouldn't it be wise to really push the idea that the band is following it up with some uncompromised raw artistic vision?

Veg, the album is called Nevermind. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was the single.

I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, just having a small lol.

HA oh dear

I am going to go refill my coffee and kill myself a few thousand times

that's pennyroyal tea surely

Entirely appropriate. Nirvanaland is the birthplace of coffee in the new world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUKJWsnAAXs

Did anybody else think this was a proper Nirvana album growing up? Before the Internet told me otherwise, I regarded it pretty much the same as I did Bleach and Nevermind

New Zealand Peaberry

xpost I totally did

No, but I am old so I remember when it came out :(

the thing i realized about this album is that Nirvana's worst songs are better than a lot of bands' best songs.

funny this comes up today. last night, thanks to the recently revived In Utero thread, I spent a post-midnight hour or two watching/listening to Nirvana rarities on YouTube when I should've been working. and I had the same thought. this band could put together, oh, I will guess three 12-track albums of unreleased songs and they would be better than just about anything else.

I am an unabashed Nirvana fanboy, tho.

anyway, Incesticide rules, but not over Nevermind or In Utero. Except for a couple of the ones near the end (not Aneurysm, tho, one of my fave Nirvana sons), this thing is pretty solid top to bottom. Dive -> Son Of A Gun is a killer stretch.

Lots of awesome pre-Bleach stuff on this. "Hairspray Queen" is still a favorite. I think "Aneurysm" is the only Nevermind-era song on this.

this band could put together, oh, I will guess three 12-track albums of unreleased songs and they would be better than just about anything else.

yeah it's kind of a bummer that no one ever thought to release even one more single disc of non-album-tracks as opposed to another bloated 4-CD boxset of boombox demos.

otm

They probably killed any appetite for that when they released that Best of the Box disc that wasn't even

i kinda got into Nirvana (a little) late and in a weird way, because when they first came out I was more partial to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden -- Nirvana didn't win me over until "Heart-Shaped Box," so the first album i got by them was In Utero, and the 2nd i got was Incesticide. didn't get Nevermind until months later, after Kurt's death. so my introduction to "Polly" was the Incesticide version.

This was the only nirvana album at my local library (I want to listen in on the meeting where they decided this would be the one rock purchase for the year)
I remember thinking Molly's lips was clearly the best song on it and if they made it a radio single, they'd be rich!

They probably killed any appetite for that when they released that Best of the Box disc that wasn't even

yeah i assumed that's what this was going to be.. all the non-album tracks. instead they maintain this attitude that "no one will buy a Nirvana CD that doesn't have a version of teen spirit or all apologies"

yeah I didn't get that

so much good stuff on that box and they create the 9000th generic best of

lots of great songs on incesticide and the box

i need to make a master playlist of Nirvana songs i like and am not sick of, nurture my appreciation of the band back to an appropriate level

I hardly ever listen to the proper albums anymore (waaaay overplayed during my teenage years) but I actually do still listen to and enjoy Incesticide from time to time. I don't think it's any more uneven a collection of songs than any of their other records, tbrr.

as of the past year or 2, i've mostly been listening to "return of the rat" "curmudgeon" "oh the guilt" "if you must" "the money will roll right in" and "endless nameless." i've still never felt burnt out on any of those and they're all pretty sick. i'm assuming some of those would have ended up on an imaginary "Incesticide 2."

Yeah, I don't get why it's so hard to put those tracks, and all the other never-released songs that sound like actual songs together with essential B-sides like "Sappy" and "I Hate Myself." There's more than enough good stuff for a great Incesticide 2.

if you must is my favorite nirvana b-side. so creepy and so distinctly cobain. amazing it's one of the first songs they wrote together.

I've always wanted to hear the full version of this, if such a thing exists!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3kOD77pKuw

Also: "Even In His Youth." Essential Nirvana song, yet somehow it didn't make Incesticide, and the non-WTLO version of it isn't as available as it should be

IM SICK OF BEING MOTHERLOVE BONE

man Turrican should poll Been a Son vs Sliver or something

Looks like a box set of the Nevermind singles as 12"s goes for about £50 new - looks like it was a Record Store Day thing a couple of years ago. Individual CDs seem to be around (but to get, say "I Hate Myself..." you have to buy the "Beavis and Butthead" soundtrack CD. Amazing that in all the Nirvana cash-grabbing nobody compiled these things! Surely that's not an oversight. Wonder what the deal is.

"I hate myself" is an extra track on the "Penny Royal Tea" CD single.

Unfortunately, only 10 copies exist, or thereabouts.

luckily a friend gave me the beavis and butthead cd years ago

The Bleach-era b-sides (iirc) are all on WTLO. The Nevermind b-sides are all on the nevermind deluxe edition. I'm guessing they'll be compiling all the remaining b-sides for an In Utero deluxe thing.

"Been a Son" was only on the UK only "Blew" e.p. but is on the "Nirvana" hits comp.

best version of been a son is on the lithium single

such a fucking jam...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7kGVk_O4H0

Weird, I just found out it was his birthday today.

here's my attempt at "incesticide 2" following roughly the same format (or as close as I could get).

1. I Hate Myself and Want to Die
2. Sappy
3. Spank Thru
4. Pen Cap Chew
5. Return of the Rat
6. D7
7. Here She Comes Now
8. Something In The Way (BBC)
9. Verse Chorus Verse
10. Big Cheese
11. Old Age
12. If You Must
13. Blandest
14. MV
15. Where Did You Sleep Last Night

ok replace any 2 of those with "Token Eastern Song" and "Even In His Youth" because most of the songs listed there are too down-tempo.

"Verse Chorus Verse" was probably my fave Nirvana song when i was a kid, i think i heard it on the radio at one point and i missed the song title. For years the only copy i had was a midi file in a DOOM .wad.

D7 cover just slays. is the song at the end of No Alternative sappy or v/c/v? because that might be my favourite nirvana song ever.

i think that's verse chorus verse

I still call it "Verse Chorus Verse." It was called "Sappy" the first 2-3 times they tried to record it. He was known for changing song titles though (like "Imodium") and the final version on No Alternative was called VCV although there's also an earlier demo for a different song with the same title. Since it was an unlisted bonus track it's been kind of open-ended. Everyone I knew at the time called it "Verse Chorus Verse," but since the late 90's, internet-tuff Nirvana fans have argued that it must be called "Sappy."

Blandest is such an amazing song. It's hard to believe they just threw it away. Contains about the best line from a song ever: "I need you around / to remind what not to become"

That doesn't exactly give "the water is so yellow I'm a healthy student" a run for its money, polio.

When this came out, seemed like the liner notes were as much a part of the Nirvana story as the album itself. (After typing that sentence and typing "incesticide" into google, the one suggested complete was "incesticide liner notes.")

A while ago, I found myself in bloody exhaust grease London again with an all-consuming urge to
hunt for two rare things: back issues of NME rumored to be secretly hidden in glass casings and
submerged in the fry vats of every kebab machine in the U.K. and the very-out-of-print first
Raincoats LP.

The NME search was a clever, saucy upstart of an attempt to be, uh, nasty. However, the Lord
and Julian Cope himself know how we need, need, need the NME to embrace the unifying hands
of our children across this big blue marble and NIRVANA's tarty musical career. So please bless
up again - we'll forever feed off of your high-calorie boggy turbinates.

In an attempt to satisfy the second part of my quest, I went to the Rough Trade shop and, of
course, found no Raincoats record in the bin. I then asked the woman behind the counter about it
and she said "well, it happens that I'm neighbors with Anna (member of The Raincoats) and she
works at an antique shop just a few miles from here." So she drew me a map and I started on my
way to Anna's.

Sometime later, I arrived at this elfin shop filled with something else I've compulsively searched for
over the past few years - really old fucked up marionette-like wood carved dolls (quite a few
hundred years old). Lots of them... I've fantasized about finding a ship filled with so many. They
wouldn't accept my credit card but the dolls were really way too expensive anyway. Anna was
there, however, so I politely introduced myself with a fever-red face and explained the reason for
my intrusion. I can remember her mean boss almost setting me on fire with his glares. She said
"well, I may have a few lying around so, if I find one, I'll send it to you (very polite, very English)."
I left feeling like a dork, like I had violated her space, like she probably thought my band was
tacky.

A few weeks later I received a vinal copy of that wonderfully classic scripture with a personalized
dust sleeve covered with xeroxed lyrics, pictures, and all the members' signatures. There was also
a touching letter from Anna. It made me happier than playing in front of thousands of people each
night, rock-god idolization fron fans, music industry plankton kissing my ass, and the million dollars
I made last year. It was one of the few really important things that I've been blessed with since
becoming an untouchable boy genius.

It was as rewarding as touring with Shonen Knife and watching people practically cry with joy at
their honesty. It made people happy and it made me happy knowing that I had helped bring them
to the U.K.

It was as rewarding as the last Vaselines show in Edinburgh. They reformed just to play with us in
their home town, probably having no idea how exciting and flattering it was for us (and how
nervous we were to meet them).

It was as rewarding as being asked to support Sonic Youth on two tours, totally being taken
under their wing and being showed what dignity really means.

It was as rewarding as the drawings Daniel Johnston sent me, or the Stinky Puffs single from Jad
Fair's son, or playing on the same bill as Greg Sage in L.A., or being asked to help produce the
next Melvins record, or being on the Wipers' compilation, or Thor from T.K. giving me a signed
first edition of Naked Lunch, or making a friend like Stephen Pavlovic - our Australian tour
promotor who sent me a Mazzy Stay LP on vinal, or playing "The Money Will Roll RIght In" with
Mudhoney, or having the power to insist on bringing Bjorn Again to the Reading Festival, or being
able to afford to bring my friend Ian along on tour just to have a good time, or paying Calamity
Jane five-thousand dollars to be heckled by twenty thousand macho boys in Argentina, or asking
my friends Fits Of Depression to play with us at The Seattle Colliseum, or playing with Poison
Idea at a No On Nine benefit in Portland organized by Gus Van Zandt, or being a part of one of
L7's pro-choice benefits in L.A., or kissing Chris and Dave on Saturday Night Live just to spite
homophobes, or meeting Iggy Pop, or playing with The Breeders, Urge Overkill, The T.V.
Personalities, The Jesus Lizard, Hole, Dinosaur Jr., etc.

While all these things were very special, none were half as rewarding as having a baby with a
person who is the supreme example of dignity, ethics and honesty. My wife challenges injustice
and the reason her character has been so severely attacked is because she chooses not to function
the way the white corporate man insists. His rules for women involve her being submissive, quiet,
and non-challenging. When she doesn't follow his rules, the threatened man (who, incidentally,
owns an army of devoted traitor women) gets scared.

A big "fuck you" to those of you who have the audacity to claim that I'm so naive and stupid that I
would allow myself to be taken advantage of and manipulated.

I don't feel the least bit guilty for commercially exploiting a completely exhausted Rock youth
Culture because, at this point in rock history, Punk Rock (while still sacred to some) is, to me,
dead and gone. We just wanted to pay tribute to something that helped us to feel as though we
had crawled out of the dung heap of conformity. To pay tribute like an Elvis or Jimi Hendrix
impersonator in the tradition of a bar band. I'll be the first to admit that we're the 90's version of
Cheap Trick or The Knack but the last to admit that it hasn't been rewarding.

At this point I have a request for our fans. If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of
different color, or women, please do this one favor for us - leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to
our shows and don't buy our records.

Last year, a girl was rapped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our
song "Polly." I have a hard time carrying on knowing there are plankton like that in our audience.
Sorry to be so anally P.C. but that's the way I feel.

Love,
Kurdt (the blond one)

(Also makes me think that Frank Ocean figured out how to make liner notes in 2012, by putting them on Tumblr instead.)

When I bought my (British) copy of Incesticide back in early/mid 1994, I was really annoyed when I discovered that my pressing didn't have those liner notes.

it seems a rather inappropriate forum for discussing your relationship with your wife

was the 'rapped by two wastes of sperm' his misspelling or...

vinal

A++ thread for sending my ears back to Nirvana's rarities.

every time i get reminded of these years i can't help to think how it was the information dark age back then, especially for people living in the country far from any scenes and college radio; to me and many others these liner notes were key to refine a bit more an aesthetic that we all "got" instinctively , even with the language barrier, but also clearly focused the meaning of "the good fight": not the kind of information you easily get in the media or from a family/community where an anti-intellectual attitude is rather the norm.

I didn't buy this album until well past the.peak of Nirvana's popularity because the title just grossed me out. It still does.

what of "Hoarmoaning" then?

Isn't there another part of the liner notes with a long list of thank yous? I seem to remember Quentin Tarantino being in the thank you notes with his name misspelled. Or was that in In Utero?

Xp: don't have much of a problem with hormones

Huh, my British tape of Incesticide doesn't have liner notes. I would've loved them as a teenager with all those namechecks to memorise and never hope to find any music by.

The mere sight of the band name "Fitz of Depression" (I assume it's the same band) sent me back to being 13 and buying a copy of Vox with a special "record collector" supplement on rare grunge-related records and a piece on Kozik's gig posters and just reading it over and over again and marvelling over the weird band names and the stuff I'd never, ever find. And now all those records are a few keypresses away from blasting into my ears for free.

Also didn't really get the non-album nature of Incesticide back then - was confused by the excitement over In Utero as long-awaited post-Nevermind album because didn't Incesticide just come out recently? Man I only just got that and hid it where my parents couldn't see the title and already we're awaiting the next one like it didn't even happen.

My mum bought me In Utero on tape, I guess I was about 10 or 11. She was quite relaxed about that kind of thing, she just asked "is this suitable?" and I said "yes" and that was it.

I haven't voluntarily listened to them in about 17 years I'd say.

don't remember when i listened to it last, but the couple of nirvana thread revives + old groups putting out new material (mbv, cornelius) made me think the timing is right to listen to it again. i always preferred it to bleach , lots of weird, acid moments that makes me think of other contemporary noise rock stuff. would have liked in utero to get further in that direction but i liked it as it is.

i always forget how good nirvana actually are until i decide to listen to them (which is about once every 1-2 years on average)

nirvana scratches an itch that no other band i have found can scratch.

you should prob see a doctor

nah, i'm just gonna put some incesticide on it and see it that doesn't fix the problem

http://imgc.artprintimages.com/images/art-print/the-abbott-and-costello-show-bud-abbott-lou-costello-1952-53_i-G-37-3708-FEZAF00Z.jpg

or maybe some bleach.

Hairspray Queen has always been a fave off of this, but listening back for the first time in ages the other day, strikes me just how good it is. Never realised how new-wavey it is, like a heavy metal version of Devo or something.

The last four songs are a great run, some of the weirder tracks Nirvana recorded - though I've heard a lot of hate for Aero Zeppelin.

love aero zeppelin, proper neandergenius

Vox on Hairspray Queen have always reminded me of Bobcat Goldthwait.

I never listen to this one, primarily because of Hairspray Queen. Only tracks that I love are Dive and Aneurysm. Don't care or can't remember the rest of them. It was like, oh I have heard a cz records compilation before.

Some days it's my favourite. A few dull tunes on the first side but it's Nirvana at their most unhinged and splintering. Don't you even like Sliver, How's Life?

I really don't like Sliver. :D

On first listen I had presumed it to be one of the many cover songs.

I don't particularly like Sliver.

Incesticide was my introduction to the whole outtakes/b-sides stopgap thing, and it does the whole concept prouder than any other such collection I've heard unless the bonus tracks on the Pavement reissue series count. It rules, FUIUD.

Somehow I never stopped and *hits bowl* really listened to "Beeswax" until like 3 years ago. now it's one of my favorite Nirvana songs. i love this performance of it (ostensibly they played mostly rarities and abandoned songs on purpose at this show to piss off the misogynistic crowd):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0IC1uQjHMY

That specific version of "Beeswax" is one of their best songs.

probably because Grohl improves on the original drumming

Yeah, and Kurt's singing and guitar playing are much better. The version on Insecticide is pre-Bleach. Shame they didn't play it ever again after that Argentina show.