The Vaselines

BIOGRAPHY

The Vaselines formed in Glasgow in 1986 as a duo of Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, later joined by James Seenan and Charlie Kelly. Signed to Stephen Pastel's 53rd & 3rd label, they released the single Son of a Gun in 1987 and the EP Dying for It in 1988, home to Molly's Lips. The group split the same week their only studio album, Dum-Dum, appeared on Rough Trade in 1989, though they briefly reunited a year later to open for Nirvana in Edinburgh. Kurt Cobain called Kelly and McKee his favorite songwriters in the world; Nirvana covered Molly's Lips and Son of a Gun on Incesticide and performed Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam on MTV Unplugged. Sub Pop compiled all 19 of the band's recordings on 1992's The Way of the Vaselines. Kelly and McKee later reformed, releasing Sex with an X in 2010 and V for Vaselines in 2014.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

The Vaselines distilled pop to its most guileless and euphoric, a shambling, primitivist squall that became foundational to 1990s indie rock. Their brief original catalog carried outsized influence once Nirvana championed and covered their songs, turning a short-lived Glasgow duo into a touchstone for a generation of alternative musicians.

GEORGE'S PLAYS

First time on the station.

PLAYED ON WOKE1

• Molly's Lips1 PLAY