Tad
Salt Lick

I recently noticed that Sub Pop is set to rerelease the first three monumental works of the band TAD, in deluxe editions, which until now had an air of the legendary and unobtainable, so thanks a lot, guys, even if it's a few years late. This second effort by the band, produced by Steve Albini, is surely the dirtiest work of a band that, with God's Balls (1990) and 8-Way Santa (1991), earned a place alongside folks like Melvins, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Nirvana, etc., thrown into that sonic chaos defined as Grunge... The fact is that the 140 kg sonic bulk of frontman Tad Doyle didn't just serve to be rejected by MTV and to support Nirvana's European tour, but also produced stuff like this EP "Salt Lick" which, if we assume Grunge can truly be considered a genre, is how I imagine Grunge to be. Heavy metal riffs (close to a Helmet style) with a punk backdrop combined with an ever-excellent and never mundane or harmless rhythm section and a raw destructive monotony taken with open arms from the aforementioned Melvins with a thought to Big Black. All united by Tad Doyle's awkward voice, which leaves you stunned with certain melodies you wouldn't expect from a chubby guy with a passion for lumberjacks or butchers. It might seem like the work of a band from the ranks of a certain Amphetamine Reptile, it's an album that, in terms of sound quality, reminds me in some ways of "My War" by Black Flag, it's raw, dirty, mean, noisy and full of great ideas, it's certainly an excellent album of a group that's undoubtedly underrated or overlooked, if you will, it's an album that deserves recognition even if their masterpiece remains "8-Way Santa," a great yet less known and acclaimed 1991 manifesto, more powerful and destructive, in fact the best part. To conclude (it might be the usual cliché, written by pseudo-know-it-all hipster snobs with the habit of always being right), it's incredible how little recognition and appreciation they received compared to others, despite being one of the most solid musical entities to come out of that Washington state in the late '80s. Don't anyone dare contradict me, eh...