In the wake of the (fortunate) demise of hair metal, Kurt
Cobain led a movement away from rock’s preening, hair-flipping poses toward a
new age of sincerity and authenticity. Yet, Cobain was also a big fan of Urge
Overkill, whose big riffs harkened back to the days of Boston and Bad Company and
whose hair was simply grown for flipping. That’s probably because corporate
rockers like Boston and Bad Company were really dumb, but Urge Overkill wielded wit
like a hidden stiletto in James Bond’s boot heel.
With their 1993 breakthrough Saturation, U.O. made capital-R Rock cool again with their ironic
songs about sexy Fidel Castro and soap operas, loungesplotation persona, and
irresistible hooks. Yet it wasn’t all a big joke with Nash Kato, “Eddie” King
Roeser, and Blackie Onassis. The bizarrely titled ballad “Bottle of Fur” homes in
on the ache of lost love with absolute sincerity (despite Nash’s knowingly seventies
use of the term “make it”). Roeser’s monstrous “Stalker” revives the guys’
Touch-and-Go era punk power. Blackie O’s “Drop Out” provides a fleeting glimpse
of the former losers lurking under all that crushed velvet. All this made for
one of the best albums of Rock’s best year since the sixties ended.
Saturation is now
being reissued on vinyl by Porterhouse Records. Sadly, the thumping CD bonus
track, “Operation Kissinger”, does not make the cut. Gladly, the sound is warm,
the vinyl is blue, and the martinis are still chilled.
