STP underrated? That's what we've said all along. Now we have someone a helluva lot cooler than us to back it up! The Onion's A.V. Club spoke with Low guitarist Alan Sparhawk about other bands' songs. His thoughts on "Big Bang Baby":
AS: Great song. I think there are three or four songs on that record that are underappreciated gems of the late grunge years.
AVC: So this isn't a guilty pleasure? It's an actual pleasure?
AS: I don't listen to the whole record. There's definitely some stuff that's not quite as solid, but this song is just great. They were doing some original things, and I think it's unfortunate that they'll be remembered as just another in the pool of bands that was around at that time.
AVC: That wasn't even their big record, right?
AS: No, this is kind of the nail in their coffin with their record company. I think after that, the heroin thing started getting more attention than anything they were actually making.
He's right; Tiny Music... Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop was uneven, but the songs that worked ("Lady Picture Show," "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart") were classics for that time. But Purple? In a thoroughly thrashed genre that had its share of disposable mediocrity, that record's a sure shot; the DeLeo's were at their riff-writing finest, and Scott was on just the right amount of heroin (it's all about moderation, kids).
Meanwhile, Low's forthcoming record Drums And Guns is out 3/07 on Sub Pop, which is in Seattle, which is where grunge is from, but not STP, who were from San Diego. So, almost full circle.
