Throughout the 1980s, right before Seattle’s grunge faux-nomenon blew up, the U-Men ruled the city’s subterranean rock scene with noisy, jutting songs and a stage presence that left interesting bruises and made crowds fear for their safety and sanity.
One of their biggest fans was and is Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm, who took time out of his busy schedule to write a tribute that accompanies Sub Pop’s press release for the archival treasure trove, U-Men (out November 3): “From 1983 to 1987,” Arm testifies, “the U-Men were the undisputed kings of the Seattle Underground… They ruled a bleak backwater landscape populated by maybe 200 people. They were the only band that could unify the disparate sub-subcultures and get all 200 of those people to fill a room.”
