After the original guitarist Jeff Hopper quit the band to pursue a degree in computer science at Western WA University, Jamie Lane met Kurt in a UW poetry workshop and stepped in on guitar.
The band started practicing at Dan's Seattle Green Lake garret bedroom, from which they could hear Lloyd, the geriatric neighbor, yelling at them to turn down the damned drums! This was in '84.
While these years passed, Russ, Kurt, and Jamie got their degrees. But that didn't stop them from playing. At the end of '86, Russ Bartlett left the band to pursue a solo career. Jamie stepped vigorously up to the mic, nudging the Hiss into a slightly different world of sonic lunacy.
Bundle of Hiss played out most of the remainder of their career as a three-piece with Jamie on guitar/vocals, Kurt on bass and a few backup vox, and Dan on drums (except for tunes including Tad Doyle on guitar and back up vox on some of the Audio Designs recordings and certain Lost Tracks from the Lost Reel).
Jon Poneman and Bruce Pavitt, were at that time starting a label called Sub Pop, named after Bruce's column which used to appear in the Rocket. Sub Pop showed interest in the new Bundle of Hiss demos. Meanwhile, Dan started to play drums in Mudhoney.
BOH included Tad in his first and last show in June 1988; shortly before the show Jamie abruptly quit to pursue a graduate degree in English. However, Jamie did play that last show, and the band's dissolution was amicable. Dan went to work on Mudhoney full-time. Kurt and Tad formed TAD.
This BOH release completes an historical circuit. The press has documented Mudhoney and Tad quite well. We know that both bands served as Sub Pop's flagship artists; we also know that both bands moved on to the majors to varying degrees of acclaim. We think the Bundle of Hiss release is an important NW music artifact. Here we have documented the sound of Bundle of Hiss and the scope of their influence at last.
--Hank Sumatra, 2/25/99--
Home
Biography
NSFAQ
Tour Dates
Lyrics
Side Projects / Other Bands
Who Is Who
Audio / Media
Links
Contact Me
DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
7" singles
12" singles
10 inch's
Cd-singles
DVDs
ONLINE
Mudhoney Forum
Mudhoney Post
When the Seattle hype machine tilted and flew into a manic phase, it produced propaganda at a staggering rate, influenced pop culture on a global scale, and catapulted some bands to the top of the charts. It was a great time to play in a band, especially if you were from Seattle. Many bands got the opportunity to document their songs on vinyl and/or CD, if not actually sell a lot of records. The "Seattle Sound" became a viable niche market.
Bundle of Hiss recorded a lot of material which was never released, except for a few isolated tracks included on obscure compilations. These unreleased recordings document the development of a heavy punk sound that many bands worldwide would later copy, not directly from Bundle of Hiss, but via their contemporaries, with whom BOH shared influences and musical elements.
BOH played gigs at the original Fabulous Rainbow for Jon Penman's KCMU night, the UCT Hall (with Feast and Pure Joy), the Lincoln Arts Center (with Room Nine), and at Gesco in Olympia (with Feast). Bundle of Hiss also played with the Vandals, Tales of Terror, March of Crimes, Soundgarden, Malfunkshun, Green River, Skin Yard, Nimbus, Crypt Kicker Five, Chemistry Set, Vexed, Roger Miller and Napalm Beach. BOH also began a long tradition of practicing at the Dutchman, using a room that they shared with Feast and which Tad would later share with Mudhoney, Nirvana, Love Battery, and others.
However, even more important than similarities BOH shared with various bands that emerged from Seattle at that time were the facets of Bundle of Hiss that distinguished them from any other Seattle rock act of that era.
BOH rocked with a sophisticated frenzy not often heard. For one thing, Bundle of Hiss incorporated more postpunk influences into their unique song stylings than did their cohorts, creating spare and minimalist soundscapes that had as much in common with Gang of Four and Joy Division as they did with the Stooges, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, or Black Sabbath. The bass and drums were in the forefront of the BOH sound, providing a landscape for the windshear guitars and the mirror-world vocals.
Seattle in the 80's was fertile time for music; but it was a volatile time too. Bands constantly broke up to form new bands. Bundle of Hiss was not immune to this phenomenon.
One consolation for those lost bands is that they sometimes take on a legendary status. Kurt and Dan shamelessly contributed to the growing BOH mythology whenever they got a chance to mention BOH in Mudhoney and Tad interviews. Soon, fans of both bands knew about Bundle of Hiss, but now they wanted to hear them. The question was, would they ever get the chance? Neither Kurt nor Dan could say, because they simply did not know. That is, until now.
Bundle of Hiss: myth or reality? Only a sound document can prove that Bundle of Hiss is not a myth, that it is real, that Kurt and Dan have not been inventing and inflating the bogus history of a bogus band all these years. And not only that, but that the music of the legendary Bundle of Hiss is worth more than just a cursory listen.
When Bundle of Hiss broke up, spawning Mudhoney and Tad, they had yet to release any of the many songs they had recorded. That prevented them from selling millions of records--or from even having any kind of release available in stores. This CD attempts to remedy that intolerable and even appalling situation. Bundle of Hiss has been fermenting for almost twelve years. Take a taste of a vintage band bottled for your listening pleasure.
BACK TO BUNDLE OF HISS MAIN GO TO BUNDLE OF HISS RECORDING HISTORY BACK TO MUDHONEY MAIN
I think that it's not online anymore :
http://www.lovelessrecords.com/boh