Enter the Vaselines

Lesser-known indie rock legends the Vaselines rekindle the old spirit of scrappy, lo-fi rock music in Enter the Vaselines.

For all the rock bands that count Nirvana among their influences, there should be just as many who give props to the Vaselines. That’s because the way-cool Scottish rockers were on the defining grunge group’s inspirational short list and Kurt Cobain talked openly about cribbing from this punk-pop band. On Enter the Vaselines, a deluxe reissue of their 1992 compilation Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History, the stripped-down indie pop that inspired Cobain’s superfandom is in full force, with Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee trading lines over short, mostly three- and four-chord lo-fi songs. Classic tracks include “Son of a Gun,” the surf-punk “Monsterpussy,” and the standout psych-folk of “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” a version of which Nirvana covered on its Unplugged appearance. As this retrospective proves, the Vaselines are always oiled and ready.