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The godfather of grunge? According to artist and former Seattle scenester Art Chantry, that crown should sit upon the unlikely head of Kurdt Vanderhoof, guitarist of Metal Church. After the demise of the Lewd, Vanderhoof’s semi-legendary Seattle punk band, he took a young King Buzzo of the Melvins under his wing; as Chantry recalls it, mix tapes from Vanderhoof’s vast record collection inspired Buzzo and his buddy, Kurt Cobain, to meld butt rock and hardcore into new, mutant configurations. Ironically, Vanderhoof’s alleged influence on grunge stops at the music of Metal Church itself; from its thrashing, classic eponymous debut in 1985 to last year’s ho-hum The Weight of the World, the group’s precision shredding couldn’t be further from the revolutionary sludge unleashed by Buzzo and Cobain. To paraphrase Ghost World: If you like authentic metal, you’ll love Metal Church.
