This Australian-only tour EP has become one of the most desirable releases in Nirvana’s back catalogue. Snapping one up won’t leave you with much change from £500…
After Nirvana released their genre-defining second album, Nevermind, they were propelled to the status of global superstars. At the start of 1992, several months after its release, the band embarked on their first and only Australian tour. To coincide with the tour, Geffen released a tour-exclusive EP, Hormoaning, which has become one of the most sought after Nirvana rarities among collectors wishing to own a piece of grunge history.
While there were CD and cassette copies manufactured – as well as some pressings for the Japanese market – it is the 12″ Australian pressing that remains the most desirable. Pressed on stunning red and blue swirl vinyl, and limited to just 4,000 units, it truly is a remarkable item.
The tracks on Hormoaning are B-sides and cover songs that appear on Nirvana releases from other territories. Three tracks, Turnaround by Devo, and Son Of A Gun and Molly’s Lips by one of Cobain’s favourite bands, The Vaselines, would later appear on the Incesticide compilation. D-7, originally by The Wipers, was a B-side to the UK issue of the Lithium single, with Even In His Youth and Aneurysm released as B-sides for Smells Like Teen Spirit in the UK. The recording of Aneurysm is different to the version on Incesticide, but would later be released as part of the With The Lights Out boxset in 2004.