REVIEW: Ten Minute Warning,

"Ten Minute Warning"

By Adem Tepedelen

(First appeared in The Rocket magazine, 4/22/98)

Ten Minute Warning may not be the best known band in Seattle rock history, but ask members of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Mudhoney about the group's importance and they will, without the slightest hesitation, agree that this was one of the most influential bands of the early '80s. Formed initially by guitarist Paul Solger, then-drummer Duff McKagan and singer Blaine Cook following the dissolution of their previous unit, the seminal Seattle punk act the Fartz, 10 Minute Warning became one of the first bands of their era to successfully meld punk energy with the throbbing groove of Sabbath-esque hard rock, a sound that was further solidified after the band added drummer Greg Gilmore and McKagan switched to guitar.

Though their actual recorded output during their relatively short-lived first incarnation from 1982 to 1985 amounted to little more than a few compilation tracks (though an EP and album recorded during this period remain unreleased), the direct effect they had on a young group of musicians who would virtually help revolutionize music in the early '90s is profound. Not only that, but several members of 10 Minute Warning eventually went on to much bigger things themselves--McKagan switched to bass and joined Guns n' Roses; Gilmore teamed up with Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard (who would later form Pearl Jam) in Mother Love Bone; Cook formed the Accused; Solger played in a variety of bands, eventually forming the groundbreaking hard rock/rap quartet Meddaphysical; and even the band's last bassist before it broke up, Daniel House, went on to form Skin Yard and run C/Z Records.

Nearly 15 years after 10 Minute Warning broke up, original members Solger, McKagan, Gilmore and one of the band's early bassists, David Garriques, have reformed with a new vocalist, Christopher Blue, and recorded a long overdue, self-titled, debut album for Sub Pop. One spin of 10 Minute Warning, however, will have fans of Green River (a band that shared future members of Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam) and old Soundgarden spinning back into a time warp and landing directly in 1986, where "grunge" was still just the gunk that fouled up your bong. Had this album been recorded back in '86, it could easily have been one of Sub Pop's first releases and, stylistically, it would have been the perfect antecedent to Green River's Dry As a Bone and Soundgarden's Screaming Life. Furthering the inevitable comparisons even more, this record was mixed by Jack Endino, the man behind the board for most of Sub Pop's early releases.

Listening to 10 Minute Warning's debut in 1998 is a bit surreal, however. The context it arrives in--post-grunge and (way) post-L.A. metal--and all of the history embedded in the lineup make it difficult to judge the album merely on its own merits. It's clear when aspects of G n' R pop up in the music that McKagan has brought his old band into the mix, but when one hears undeniable snatches of Soundgarden and Green River in these songs, it's hard not to lose track of who made who. In other words, 10 Minute Warning is an anachronism, a record completely out of place in time.

Is the album merely a crass, pre-grunge nostalgia trip that only a handful of thirtysomething Seattle scenesters will appreciate or care about? Perhaps. Or is this just another way for McKagan to prove to all of his punk peers in Seattle that he didn't completely sell out when he joined G n' R? Maybe. The bigger question, though, is: Despite all the baggage attached to this reunion, are the songs good? The simple answer to that question is a definitive "Yes."

Despite being apart for more than a decade, 10 Minute Warning have come together to craft nine meaty, adrenaline-boosting songs. The aptly titled "Swollen Rage" leads things off with a rumbling riff that segues nicely into a crunching chord progression, both of which sound as if they were lifted right off Guns n' Roses' classic debut, Appetite for Destruction. It's punctuated by Blue's guttural, Chris Cornell-like roar and Solger's tasteful, bluesy guitar leads. But 10 Minute Warning set the album's tone with the second song, "Buried," which blasts off with a bass line and riff just like the ones the Fastbacks utilized on their cover of Green River's "Swallow My Pride" on the Sub Pop 200 compilation.

Throughout the record, 10 Minute Warning meld good ol' overblown rock 'n' roll riffage with an artsier finesse and subtle touches. Songs like "Face First," "Pictures" and "Erthe" benefit from the diverse elements and styles all five members bring to the sound, from Gilmore's recent solo musical experimentations to McKagan's sure-handed, classic-rock riffs and Blue's powerful and versatile voice. The music is heavy ("Disconnected"), chaotic ("No More Time") and powerfully tight, yet never sacrifices the quality of the songs for the simple sake of making an enormous ruckus. Sound like a familiar formula? It should; it was that same thread that connected all of the classic, early Sub Pop releases--from Mudhoney to Swallow to Nirvana.

So yes, 10 Minute Warning definitely hark back to a sound of an earlier era in Seattle music, but if any band should be allowed that digression, it's this one. After all, these guys sowed the seeds that germinated into a full-blown "sound" in the late '80s.

Whether or not anyone outside Seattle will be interested in this record remains to be seen. Diehard early G n' R fans will certainly appreciate the punky, hard rock punch the band delivers, but in a musical climate where loud guitars and pounding drums are being shunned for drum machines, samplers and acoustic-strumming waifs, 10 Minute Warning could easily become an odd footnote in the history of Seattle music. Had Sub Pop signed 10 Minute Warning and released either the EP or album the band recorded before it broke up in the mid-'80s, who knows what would have happened.