Wool - 20th Century Masters: The Singles Collection (1991-94)

With an amped-out synthesis of punk, grunge, and some tasteful alt-metal maneuvers, Wool struck an immediate and eminently powerful blow to this set of eardrums.  Their 1992 Budspawn ep was a a fixture in my car's tape deck for many months, yet at the time I was unaware of the quartet's back story.  Remember Scream, the D.C. hardcore band that Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic usurped Dave Grohl from just in time to record Nevermind?   It turns out that the nuclei of Scream, mouthpiece Peter Stahl and axe-wielding brother Franz Stahl transplanted themselves to L.A. in the early '90s and laid the building blocks for the decidedly more bludgeoning and righteously heavy Wool.  The aforementioned Budspawn was issued by London Record's boutique imprint External to little fanfare, at least in my corner of the world, but prior to which came a pair of singles, Mayday and "Little Darlin'" b/w "Medication."

Fast forward to 1994, and the release of Wool's Box Set (which in fact was merely a traditional single disk album).  Despite some occasional stoner-ish meanderings, Box Set was largely cut from the same cloth as the ep, boasting some fairly accessible (i.e. grunge friendly) material including "Kill the Crow," and the walloping, groove-ridden "Superman is Dead." The first of those two cuts was released as a single by Bong Load Records, which included a cover of the Sonic's legendary garage romp "The Witch" as the b-side.  In conjunction with Box Set was a three cut, vinyl-only 7" also on Bong Load, featuring what I would assume to be three session outtakes.  In any event, the album stiffed, Wool folded a year thereafter, and Franz would go onto greater renown after he was enlisted as a Foo Fighter in the mid-90s.  You can fill in the blanks to the rest of Wool's history at the ever resourceful Myspace.

As a bonus, I'm including the b-side to Wool's second 7" single bearing the song "Medication" dubbed "Marky St. James," which isn't a song, rather a prank call concerning an obnoxious metalhead who has designs on forming a new band.  Lots of luck with that. 

Little Darlin 7" (199?, Fuck You Records)

01. Little Darlin

02. Medication

Mayday 7" (1992, Bong Load)

03. S.O.S.

04. Run-Hide

Kill the Crow 7" (1993 Bong Load)
05. Kill the Crow
06. The Witch

untitled 7" ep (1994, Bong Load)
07. So Many Ways
08. Sister Song
09. Dear Dorothy

10. Marky St. James (b-side to "Medication," London Recs '92)

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