When punk and metal were separate entities, like jealous cousins ready to fight at any given opportunity, a fucked up rockabilly band brought them together. Well, at least in Seattle.
Ah yes, of course; they were “proto grunge.” They were probably THE “proto grunge” band. They had songs on Sub Pop 100 and Deep Six compilations. They played all over the northwest before there was anywhere to play. They were there first and they influenced everybody that came afterwards. But that’s not what’s important about the U-Men.
They owed a lot to the Birthday Party, yet added elements of metallic dissonance that expanded on their vocabulary, predating some of the things added by greats like the Jesus Lizard and Oxbow. It’s no wonder Tom Hazelmyer joined the band briefly and, later, had them contribute tracks to Dope-Guns-’N-Fucking In The Streets on his seminal Amphetamine Reptile label.
The band had a knack for noisy rock that sometimes scratched on manic euphoria, a sense of shouting in excitement to express (or act out) feelings of paranoia, discomfort, and all out madness; a feeling familiar to fans of Flipper and the Butthole Surfers. The U-Men, as heard on one of their crowning moments, “Dig It a Hole,” are a party; a dark and heavy party that, come dawn, might end up in crying fits over finding the body of a friend of yours, dead from an OD.
Listening to them, you can witness their influence on future AmRep bands. You can also see that they were a link between the national network of skronk just starting to happen at the time and local talent like Green River. But above all, they were a band playing lively music for perverted people. God bless their hearts.
