in the seatac home of cobain's aunt mari earl, cobain and crover recorded the "illiteracy will prevail" demo on a 4-track recorder. the date of the recording session has been disputed; many have followed michael azerrad's dating of the session to december 1985 in his "" biography from 1993, while gillian gaar contends in her 2012 biography "entertain us!: the rise of nirvana" that easter break in 1986 is more likely. with crover playing both bass and drums, the two recorded 13 original songs in total, which cobain would later remember as a "totally abrasive" batch of punk songs reflecting his dual interest in black sabbath and black flag. although crover later dismissed the demo as "amateurish," melvins frontman buzz osborne recalled a "certain magic" in the band's simple but effective recording, citing as memorable their "ability to put something together in an interesting way."