Love Buzz (3:43)

“Love Buzz” is a song written by Robbie van Leeuwen of Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. The American grunge band Nirvana recorded a cover version of the song for its debut single, released on Sub Pop in 1988. It was the first single in the Sub Pop Single of the Month club, a marketing gimmick which helped Sub Pop stay temporarily financially solvent. A different mix of the song would also appear on Nirvana’s debut album, Bleach, along with the single’s b-side, “Big Cheese”.

The Bleach version of Love Buzz was mixed differently and is missing a 10-second sound collage introduction put together by Kurt Cobain. “Love Buzz” was later released on the Blew EP.

In a 1989 review for British music magazine Melody Maker, Everett True enthusiastically wrote, “Nirvana are beauty incarnate. A relentless two-chord garage beat which lays down some serious foundations for a sheer monster of a guitar to howl over. The volume control ain’t been built yet which can do justice to this three-piece!” True also made “Love Buzz” joint-US Single of the Week.