You’re No Big Deal - Grunge, The US Underground and Beyond 1984-1994

During the late 1980s, whilst pop, rap and glam metal dominated the American airwaves, underground musicians sought an antidote. During the middle of the decade, from Seattle in the west to New York in the east, bands immersed in a less highly polished, raw and more powerful sound began to emerge, fusing punky garage band attitude with meaningful, often disenchanted lyrics and lashings of distortion to create something new. The “grunge” tag quickly took hold, absorbing bands from all over the States and becoming a social phenomenon, drawing countless other underground and college circuit bands into its orbit in the process. Overnight, macho rock was dead.

Featuring an embarrassment of key bands and classic tracks, alongside lesser-known nuggets and a hand-picked selection of Australasian artists who were inadvertently feeding into the scene, You’re No Big Deal explores a vital period in post-punk American musical history, the rebirth of rock music and its new place among the underground elite. With sleevenotes from Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, whose previous band Green River were the first to be given the “grunge” tag, this is an on-the-ground, broad reaching dive into a time and place that saw the unlikeliest of anti-rock stars recalibrate what American guitar-based music could be, reconnecting it with ordinary suburban kids and reigniting punk rock’s spirit.

Packed with over 80 tracks spanning a decade, and presented in roughly chronological order, You’re No Big Deal tells a story that spread far beyond the ambitions of its key players.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE

1  Green River - Come On Down

2  Red Kross - Linda Blair 1984

3  10 Minute Warning - Stooge

4  Bam Bam - Villains (Also Wear White)

5  Poison 13 - One Step Closer

6  Meat Puppets - Swimming Ground

7  Feast - Look For The Light

8  The Scientists - If It's The Last Thing I Do

9  Husker Du - Crystal

10  Malfunkshun - My Only Fan

11  Dinosaur Jr - Little Fury Things

12  Soundgarden - Hunted Down

13  U-Men - Solid Action

14  Pixies - Caribou

15  feedtime - Curtains

16  The Replacements - The Ledge

17  The Flaming Lips - Maximum Dream For Evil Knievel

18  Green River - This Town

19  Cosmic Psychos - Can't Come In

20  The Celibate Rifles - Jesus On TV

21  Happy Flowers - Mom and Dad Like The Baby More Than Me

DISC TWO

1  Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick

2  Bundle Of Hiss - Rabies

3  The Fluid - Cold Outside

4  Cat Butt - 64 Funny Cars

5  Blood Circus - Two Way Street

6  Babes In Toyland - Dust Cake Boy

7  Scream - Fucked Without A Kiss

8  Ultra Vivid Scene - Mercy Seat

9  Girl Trouble - Riverbed

10  Crunchbird - Subway Circle

11  Soundgarden - Flower

12  Tad - Behemoth

13  Kill Sybil - Olympia (Single Version)

14  Love Battery - Between The Eyes

15  Seaweed - Inside

16  Skin Yard - Start At The Top

17  Gas Huffer - Firebug

18  Mudhoney - In And Out Of Grace

19  Helltrout - Smoking Lounge

20  Mother Love Bone - Thru Fade Away

DISC THREE

1  Sonic Youth - Kool Thing

2  L7 - Shove

3  Toadies - I Hope You Die

4  Pavement - From Now On

5  The Thrown Ups - Stockboy, Superhero

6  Poison Idea - Feel the Darkness

7  The Breeders - Glorious

8  Dinosaur Jr - The Wagon

9  Hole - Teenage Whore

10  Nomeansno - Body Bag

11  7 Year Bitch - Lorna

12  Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia

13  Mercury Rev - Syringe Mouth

14  Calamity Jane - Say It

15  Eric's Trip - Lost

16  Thrillhammer - Bleed

17  Cop Shoot Cop - Discount Rebellion

18  Treepeople - Ballard Bitter

19  Nubbin - Macaroni

DISC FOUR

1  Temple Of The Dog - Pushin' Forward Back

2  The Monkeywrench - I'm Blown

3  Stone Temple Pilots - Sex Type Thing

4  Honcho Overload - Sugarfoot (Single Version)

5  Luscious Jackson - Keep On Rockin' It

6  Cheater Slicks - Murder (Live at CBGBs)

7  Beasts Of Bourbon – Just Right

8  The Gits - Here's To Your Fuck

9  Superchunk - Precision Auto

10  Dead Moon - It's O.K

11  Melvins - Set Me Straight

12  Patchouli Sewer - Beauty Sleep

13  Wool - Kill The Crow

14  Kim Salmon & the Surrealists - Non Stop Action Groove

15  Veruca Salt - All Hail Me (Remix)

16  Sleep Capsule - Eat It's Tongue

17  Steel Wool - Four Winds

18  Wicker Biscuit - Creepy Doll

19  Gary Young - Plant Man

20  Cellophane - Tripping Fields

21  St. Johnny – I Hate Rock And Roll