Indie Gold: The Vaselines

Cover to The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History

The Vaselines found a cult following after their breakup in 1990. Rediscovering this CD is like finding "Indie Gold" - which is the name of this new series.

The Vaselines were a Scottish band "born out of the bored and very sick minds of Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee", according to the liner notes to The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History (Sub Pop, 1992). Charles Kelly and James Seenan rounded out The Vaselines.

The Vaselines excelled at penning humorous lyrics that embraced sexual innuendo, and also parodied traditional teenage themes. The Way of the Vaselines offers all this plus playful, happy songs mixed with over-the-top depressingly morbid songs. What's not to like?

The band were good at turning listener expectations on its head. From the opening macho-guitar chords that quickly fade into the bouncy, child-like, and decidedly un-macho pop melody of "Son of a Gun", to playing with gender, the Vaselines liked turning things inside out.

Sexual innuendo and wordplay flies all over the place. "Monsterpussy", ostensibly about possible recycling uses for an ill-fated cat, provides an opportunity for multiple repetitions of the title. And the lyrics to "Rory Rides Me Raw" are quite funny. Is it about riding a horse? Hmmm...

The Vaselines also liked parodying teenage self-aggrandizement, as with "Teenage Superstars".

But the band could also come on like bi-polar depressives; "No Hope" is about hating life but being unable to end it ("Better under the table than under the ground / And I can't give it up").

"Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam" speaks directly to Christ, stating, "Don't expect me to cry for all the reasons you had to die / Don't ever ask your love of me". This is as subversive as the most vitriolic punk lyrics, because it takes an established religious song and turns it into a song about refusing religion.

The one still note on the album is the beautifully rendered "Slushy", which is a missed-chance lovesong. It's perfection in just under 2 minutes.

Eugene Kelley went on to form Eugenius (Oomalama, 1992, Atlantic/Wea), and Frances McKee has just released an album called Sunny Moon (Analogue Catalog).

The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History holds up incredibly well today, partly because its humor and simple employment of instruments just don't date. You need this in your Indie music collection, especially if you love Indie pop.

"Indie Gold" is a running series highlighting the best music of the past few decades in the Indie genre.

Sub Pop

Rating: 5/5

Highlights: "Son of a Gun", "You Think You're a Man", "Molly's Lips", "Teenage Superstars", "Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam", "Slushy", "Monsterpussy", "No Hope", "The Day I Was a Horse"

Similar to: The Meat Puppets, The Grates

First published on Suite 101