LAST BLAST

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

Is there anything left to say about Nirvana? The punk-rock trio, which helped define the sound of alternative rock before disbanding after the 1994 suicide of its lead singer, Kurt Cobain, has been written about, figuratively speaking, to death. In the liner notes to Nirvana's newly released live CD, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, bassist Krist Novoselic even declares, "Let all the analysis fall away like yellow, aged newsprint." If it were that easy, would O.J. still be in the news?

Of course, not all music invites analysis. There's no need to parse the meaning of Sheryl Crow's song Love Is a Good Thing (the point, it's pretty clear, is that love is a good thing). Muddy Banks, however, is more complex. It's a raw, fast, loud CD that starts with a scream and ends with the roar of a crowd--fitting bookends for Nirvana's too-brief career.

After Cobain's death, his music snapped into focus, his lyrics now sounding like lines from a suicide note. One gets the same impression listening to this CD, as Cobain sings, "I'm worse at what I do best" on a frantic version of Smells Like Teen Spirit, or when he howls, "Love you so much/ It makes me sick" on a jagged yet controlled rendition of Aneurysm. Performed live, the hurt is more apparent--affection is an affliction, talent a curse, and the crowd roars with every howl of pain. Alternative rock was meant to be a refutation of processed pop--this CD, recorded, flaws and all, at various concerts, is a tribute to untamed rock. It has the power to make a dead band sound alive.

--C.J.F.