Hole- Pretty On the Inside

Well, Hole is probably more of an LA band, but since Courtney Love grew up in Portland, OR., I will include it here.

This maybe the most underrated and underappreciated grunge albums of the early 90s. This is pre-Cobain teaching Love how to play the guitar and long before the band started preforming pop radio hits like “Doll Parts” and “ Miss World”. In fact, you probably couldn’t tell Hole’s early work from what they morphed into once they had the taste for popularity.  

Pretty on the Inside is a wall of noise taken from Sonic Youth's playbook along with Eric’s Black Sabbath-esque guitar riffs. On top of that is Love furiously shouting, in a singing kind of way, about sex, rape, and drugs. Yet, she does so in such a way that doesn’t come off sounding like she’s trying to say the cool things, but rather is introspective of the pain in her life that has brought about such hatred and bitterness. It’s not sweet or sexy, more often than not it’s vulgar and brutal. While love and guitarist Eric see this album as something of an embarrassment this is probably Hole’s best work to date.  

Song you should listen For:

Garbadge Man

Mrs. Jones

Good Sister / Bad Sister

Loaded