A welcome return – let’s hope they stick around for a bit longer this time.
It’s difficult to talk about Scottish fuzz-poppers The Vaselines without mentioning the ‘C’ word, so let’s get it out of the way. It’s certainly fair to say that they’re best known for Kurt Cobain’s patronage – Nirvana covered three of their songs (Son of a Gun, Molly’s Lips and Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam), and he even named his daughter Frances Bean after vocalist/guitarist Frances McKee – but that shouldn’t be allowed to obscure the rest of this intriguing story.
Formed in 1986, the band’s original tenure lasted only a few years – and produced just the one album. They broke up shortly after 1989 debut LP Dum-Dum, and despite several live reunions in the interim, have remained silent on the recording front since. It’s been 21 years in the making, then, but Sex with an X is a triumphant return, not to mention a reminder of just how influential their sound has been since they split – The Moldy Peaches, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Vivian Girls all owe considerable debts, for starters.
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Source: BBC Music