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"Puss"/"Oh, the Guilt"
UK picture sleeve
Single by the Jesus Lizard and Nirvana
ReleasedFebruary 22, 1993 (1993-02-22)[1]
Recorded1992
Genre
Length6:43
LabelTouch and Go Records
Songwriter(s)The Jesus Lizard/Kurt Cobain
Producer(s)Steve Albini ("Puss")/
Barrett Jones ("Oh, the Guilt")
The Jesus Lizard singles chronology
"Mouth Breather"
(1990) 		"Puss"/"Oh, the Guilt"
(1993)
Nirvana singles chronology
"In Bloom"
(1992) 		"Oh, the Guilt"
(1993) 		"Heart-Shaped Box"
(1993)

"Puss"/"Oh, the Guilt" is a split single, released as a double a-side,[2] from the American rock bands the Jesus Lizard and Nirvana, released via Touch and Go Records.[3]

Recording and release

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Background

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It was released on February 15, 1993, and includes the songs "Puss" by the Jesus Lizard and "Oh, the Guilt" by Nirvana. The cover art for the single is a painting by Malcolm Bucknall called "Old Indian and White Poodle".[4] "Puss"/"Oh, the Guilt" peaked at number 12 on the UK singles chart; it was the Jesus Lizard's only hit single in the UK, and Nirvana's sixth.

"Puss" first appeared on the 1992 album Liar and was recorded by Steve Albini, who would later record Nirvana's third and final album, In Utero. The video for "Puss" showed a man being welded in a chair, so it was banned from some television stations.

"Oh, the Guilt" was recorded by Barrett Jones on April 7, 1992 in Seattle, Washington. The song was re-released in 2004 on the Nirvana rarities box set With the Lights Out and in 2005 on the compilation album Sliver: The Best of the Box, although on these latter releases the song was remixed by Adam Kasper, and does not include the sound of lighter clicks present on the original mix.

Release

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The single was released on 1,500 limited edition 7 inch vinyl picture discs in Australia, on blue 7 inch vinyl and CD single in the UK, and on 7 inch vinyl, CD single, and cassette single in the US. According to nirvana-discography.com, the total world-wide release was 100,000 copies but according to John Rocco's The Nirvana Companion it was 200,000 copies.[5][6]

Reception

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The British magazine Music Week described "Oh, the Guilt" as a "rougher, underproduced example of their pop-metal" and "Puss" as "a fiercer, messier hardcore thang".[7] An August 1993 Billboard article about the Touch and Go record label described the single as having "sold in great numbers".[8] Readers of CMJ voted it the fifth-best 7 inch single of 1993.[9]

David Yow, vocalist of the Jesus Lizard, later said of the release: "We had to figure out, well, do we want to do this and look like we're riding on Nirvana's coattails, or we could just do it and not worry about it, which is what we ended up doing."[1]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Puss"3:19
2."Oh, the Guilt"3:24

Charts

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Chart (1993) Peak
position
Australian Top 20 Alternative Singles (ARIA)[10] 3
European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[11] 36
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 12
UK Network Singles (MRIB)[13][14][15] 9
UK Indie Singles (Melody Maker)[14] 2
UK Indie Singles (Music Week)[16] 3
UK Indie Singles (NME)[15] 2
UK Rock & Metal Singles (CIN)[17] 3

Unreleased versions

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Nirvana recorded an instrumental demo version of "Oh, the Guilt" on January 1, 1991, at The Music Source studios in Seattle, Washington, but it remains officially unreleased. At the same studio session the band also recorded demo versions of songs "Aneurysm", "Even In His Youth", "All Apologies", "On a Plain", "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter", and "Token Eastern Song". All of these also remain officially unreleased except for "Aneurysm" and "Even In His Youth" which featured as B-sides to the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single, and "All Apologies" which was released on the 20th anniversary deluxe and super-deluxe versions of the In Utero album in 2013.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Gaar, Gillian (September 21, 2023). "11 Reasons Why 1993 Was Nirvana's Big Year". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Chart Newcomers" (PDF). Music Week. March 6, 1993. p. 7. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  3. ^ Gaar, Gillian G (1997). Verse Chorus Verse: The Recording History of Nirvana. Goldmine.
  4. ^ "Dberman gallery". Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  5. ^ "Oh, The Guilt". nirvana-discography.com. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  6. ^ Rocco, John; Rocco, Brian, eds. (1998). The Nirvana Companion: Two Decades of Commentary: A Chronicle of The End of Punk. London: Omnibus Press. p. 204. ISBN 0711969957. Gaar, Gillian (1997). 'Verse Chorus Verse: The Recording History of Nirvana'. Goldmine.
  7. ^ "Market Preview" (PDF). Music Week. February 27, 1993. p. 6. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Verna, Paul (August 21, 1993). "Touch and Go Thrives by Keeping Punk Ethic" (PDF). Billboard. p. 76. Retrieved September 17, 2019. Continued from page 1
  9. ^ "CMJ 1993 Readers Poll" (PDF). CMJ. February 7, 1994. p. 63. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  10. ^ "ARIA Top 20 Alternative Singles – Week Ending: 21st March, 1993 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 163}". ARIA, via Imgur.com. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  11. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. March 13, 1993. p. 23. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  12. ^ "Nirvana: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  13. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. March 13, 1993. p. 24. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Charts". Melody Maker. MRIB and Independent: From sales supplied from Chain With No Name. March 6, 1993. p. 26. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Charts". NME. MRIB. March 6, 1993. p. 52. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  16. ^ "Specialist Charts: Independent Singles". Music Week. CIN, Gallup. March 13, 1993. p. 16. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  17. ^ "Heavy Rock Singles 20" (PDF). Hit Music. CIN, Gallup. March 6, 1993. p. 14. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  18. ^ "January 1, 1991, Studio A - The Music Source, Seattle, WA, US". livenirvana.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
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