Matchbox: U-Men and Napalm Beach

The U-Men cover is from the Dig It A Hole single released in 1987. The Napalm beach cover is from their album, Liquid Love, the first album they put out with Jan Celt at Flying Heart records, in 1988. Artist/writer Joe Sacco made the Liquid Love cover. I doubt that Chris, who wasn’t a record collector, had any idea of the similarity between the two album covers.

There is a whole thing with Flying Heart and album art, and contracts in general. It’s a lot of theft and fraud. There was an earlier album cover that Chris did not approve and asked (in my presence) to be destroyed, but it seems that around the time Chris got sick, Celt started to distribute that version of the record. That version has a bunch of unflattering photos of the band, with flames drawn on them in red. The symbolism seems like it should be obvious.

With regards to these two album covers, there’s likely another reference going on, and it has to do with Seattle’s Bumbershoot festival, 1985. By 1985 Napalm Beach was a mature band, trying to get somewhere. They had recorded Rock and Roll Hell with Greg Sage in 1983 and released it on cassette, and in 1985 they self-recorded Pugsley, also releasing it on cassette, and also recorded their self-titled album, which would later be called Teen Dream and self-released on vinyl.

Both Napalm Beach an U-Men played Bumbershoot in 1985.

There’s a lot of strategy employed to bury Chris’ music and his intent. U-Men seem to have achieved this at Bumbershoot 1985 by pouring lighter fluid into a water feature and lighting the whole thing on fire. I’m guessing if you read about Bumbershoot 1985 in any “grunge” book, this is what you’ll hear about, and this is what you’ll remember. “They lit the moat on fire.” It’s not about the music, it’s about the flames. It is a mind control tactic – control of focus – the “cool kids” tell you where to focus, and who (and what) to pay attention to, and who and what to ignore.

still from Pearl Jam "Jeremy" - figure against flames

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