Upon first listen you might not detect the wicked gravity of Swallow My Pride. After all, it sounds like what it is: an ugly balled fist of fuzz and fury fuelled in equal parts by the hazy drug-doom of Black Sabbath and the flailing teenage electricity of Black Flag; a loud and rancourous hate song about a fizzling relationship between a horny young creep (singer Mark Arm, presumably) and his right-wing, Godfearing, gun-toting girlfriend.
But Green River weren’t just a gang of skinny, greasy-haired young assholes from some forgotten corner of America. Well, they were that in 1987, sure, but as time rolled on, the legacy of the band spread far and wide. Their break-up spawned Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone (and eventually Pearl Jam), and Sub Pop, the tiny, go-nowhere record label they were on, would eventually sign Nirvana, turning Seattle into an unlikely rock’n’roll Mecca and kick-starting the entire grunge movement.
