THE FLUID

Written by Dr. Octagom from his blog Last Days Of Man On Earth.  The full article also contains a detailed discography and is well worth a read.

My favorite band of the original Sub Pop grunge explosion did not even come from Seattle. They came from Denver. And they really weren’t grunge either. The Fluid were for all intensive purposes, a garage punk band but they were really ahead of their time. When Punch N’ Judy came out in 1986, I think the term “garage” was really used for neo-60′s bands like The Chesterfield Kings. Punk was kind of a dirty word at this time. And punk is what the Fluid were all about. Pure unadulterated Punk Rock-n-Roll. The most obvious influence being Kill City era Iggy Pop. Just look at the cover of Freak Magnet. Whaddya think these dudes were going for?

Any music fan with some years behind them knows that there are bands that take you to a certain time and place every time you hear them. Some bands are so closely tied with a certain moment in your life that you cannot ever listen to them without the baggage (good or bad) of the past again. You revisit them years later and you are amazed at how quickly the sounds can transport you. When I hear The Fluid, I am instantly delivered back to 1989. I’m living in a shit-hole in Tulsa, smoking pot all the time. I’m eating a steady diet of Ramen Noodles and the smell of cat piss and incense fill the air. My favorite music is The God Bullies, Nirvana, Helios Creed, The Melvins, The U-Men and The Fluid.

I am stricken today at how totally “on the nod” a lot of this music sounds. Singer John Robinson was not much of a screamer. He liked to mumble his lyrics as if it was taking all he had just to stand upright and deliver them. Freak Magnet was one of my favorite late night, cigarette albums back in 1989. The music is just so debauched and detatched sounding. My favorite album by The Fluid however, is their first Sub Pop release Roadmouth which I bought back in 1989 on tye dye vinyl cuz I’m a pretentious asshole. The Jack Endino production really brings out the band. Even John belts out a few on this one. The band itself, who were made up of ex-Denver scenesters including former members of the proto-grunge outfit The Frantix, really lay it on thick. It and the follow-up EP, Glue, really had “it” whatever “it” was. One more album, Purple Metal Flake Music was released a few years later but by then the moment had passed. It’s a good album but y’know how zeitgeists are.

Essential Listening

Glue/Roadmouth 

The Fluid wiki
The Fluid Allmusic
Interview with lead singer John Robinson

LOTS MORE AT FLUID VIDEO ARCHIVE