The Fluid took influences they shared with their contemporaries and ran in their own direction, focused on ass-shaking grooves more than misanthropic sludge. Rock anthems like Cold Outside sit alongside Stooge-oid rhythmic poundings (Black Glove), bluesy romps (Leave It), the occasional grungy dirge (Wasted Time), and raw punk bangers (Is It Day Im Seeing?) from the seminal 1988 Sub Pop 200 compilation).

The band wasnt shy about their inspiration, either: scattered through their catalog are covers of The Troggs, The Rolling Stones, MC5, Iggy Pop and James Williamson, and Rare Earth. The Fluid stand out as champions of a feral, urgent, exuberant approach to rock n roll. As it turns out, that wasnt a recipe for stardom in the era of hyper-slick pop, boomer dinosaurs crying tea