Scottish indie rock act the Vaselines — whose music was covered in the 1990s by Nirvana — has reunited for two upcoming festival performances.
Vaselines members Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee will reportedly appear at Scotland’s Tigerfest on May 16, as well as Sub Pop Records’ 20th anniversary festival in July. The band is currently lining up additional concert dates, sources say.
The Vaselines’ appearance at Sub Pop’s anniversary party, to be held July 12-13 at Seattle’s Marymoor Park, will be the band’s first concert in America, according to Sub Pop spokesperson Steve Manning. During its live set, the Vaselines will be joined by members of Belle & Sebastian.
In 1992, Sub Pop released “The Way of the Vaselines,” an album containing 19 of the Vaselines’ official recordings. The set has gone on to sell 61,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Although the Vaselines aren’t currently signed to Sub Pop Records, the indie label plans to re-issue “The Way of the Vaselines,” according to Manning. No further album releases were planned at deadline.
In the 1990s, grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain of Nirvana helped popularize the Vaselines’ music by covering several of its songs. Covers of the Scottish band’s “Molly’s Lips” and “Son of a Gun” appeared on Nirvana’s 1992 compilation album “Incesticide,” which included rare songs and b-sides. Nirvana also performed the Vaselines’ “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam” for 1994’s “MTV Unplugged in New York.”
As previously reported, Sub Pop Records will celebrate its 20th birthday with performances by bands from throughout the indie label’s storied past and present. Among the groups reuniting or breaking long hiatuses for the occasion are Green River, Red Red Meat, the Fluid, Beachwood Sparks and Seaweed.
Current label acts confirmed to appear include Fleet Foxes, Flight of the Conchords, Foals, Grand Archives, the Helio Sequence, Iron & Wine, Kinski, Low, Mudhoney, No Age, Wolf Parade, Pissed Jeans and the Ruby Suns. Other recent additions to the festival are Eric’s Trip and Les Thugs.
