When you think about pioneers and predecessors to a genre of music, who do you think of? You often think of the most popular, successful bands of said genre. For grunge, there’s Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Alice In Chains – but certainly plenty of others, too. One underrated selection is Gruntruck, whose first two records Inside Yours and Push were the sound of early 90’s grunge, except much more metallic. Think closer to Bullhead or Inhaler. Having toured alongside Pantera and Alice In Chains during their heyday, the band sadly never got to release their 3rd album, getting embroiled in a suit with Roadrunner Records. The album was eventually lost and after Ben McMillan died in 2008, the album was thought to never see a proper release.
Enter producer Jack Endino. The famed producer of Bleach helped spring the release of this album to action, and yesterday, it was finally released. Full of snarling vocals and sludgy, metallic grunge, Gruntruck’s self-titled album would have likely made them a household name. You can stream the whole album below – it’s seriously a time capsule into the mid-90’s.
This one’s for you, Ben.
