VARIOUS ARTISTS
Nearvana "San Francisco" (Tinnitus)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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I love tribute records, I do. The good, the bad, the ugly, gimme a cover tune any time of day. Needless to say, the world is looking good at this point, for jammed into the player is a solid twenty-one tracks of Cobain manipulations. Yes it rocks, but that's a given, and those are the least interesting interludes. The heart of the matter at hand is dismantling flawless grunge anthems, stripping their lumberjack facades and regurgitating the skeletons in a unique manner - the kinda stuff that makes friends chuckle at the recognition factor and the obvious desecration of something near and dear to their scarred hearts. Case in point: Storm Inc. turning the desperate outreach of "Rape Me" into a soft acoustic strum folk number sung with a female whisper that builds into a volcanic eruption. Now that's a head spinner. A close second is The Crosstops' giddy-up country yank of "In Bloom" - replete with whistles and yee-haws. It just kills the original. Blows it outta the water. What makes this record so grand? It was recorded specifically for this release, by a bunch of no name San Fran bands, and not a bunch of prima donna megastars with something to prove. It shows.

© 2002 - John Sekerka