"We Are Bacteria” featuring Beck (as Mr. Hansen)

scum stats: 100 copies

Man oh man, this is a LONG TIME waitlist difficulty. I think I’ve been actively searching for over ten years. Lately I’ve been opening up Discogs first thing in the AM to check the newly available items from my list and I could not click through fast enough to get this one. Seller had no feedback, but it arrived all legit. A+++++

Though I’m not quite sure of the circumstances, this came out in 1995 as a split release with the artists J Church and Phantom Pregnancies and Beck.

But because it was 1995, and he was international rock and roll phenomenon Beck, he is credited simply as “Mr. Hansen” so as to mask/hide/underplay his presence.

My understanding is that Honey Bear Records was de facto run by the band J Church and they were friends with Beck and had their very own “Singles Club” and that this singled was released through that club.

I wanted this thing so bad I badgered the folks at United Record Pressing to pull the paperwork for it to see if they still had metal work or test pressings or anything. They didn’t, but I THINK that they said the pressing amount was actually 110 copies. You heard it here first.

While the recent Pitchfork article (https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/invisible-hits-mellow-gold-mine-revisiting-becks-unreleased-early-work/) kinda touches on the idea, I don’t think it can be overstated…Beck’s early, unheard, under-the-radar stuff is FILLED with gems.

Personally, I LOVE the spot that “Glut” and “Untitled” hit. From my ear, post “Mellow Gold” and pre “Odelay” and seemingly more in-line with the Los Angeles compatriots Weezer and That Dog…just a strong 90’s guitar-propelled example of alt-rock squeaziness.

Side note: I feel like Beck is eternally slept on in regards to record prices. He’s got tons of shit out there and, to me, it seems like it just does not command the prices it should. I severely overpaid for this single, less than HALF the price of the $1100 copy on Discogs right now, but I ain’t gonna lie, there were MANY flirtations with that $1100 copy over the past few years…thinking “aw, why the hell not?” For as important and productive he is, it just seems like folks do not collect him hard. If this were some sort of stock market shit, I’d say buy up Beck records, as folks will realize, sooner or later, that his shit needs to be gripped.