Mudhoney Articles
Sounds
22 April '89
Mudhoney
Mudhoney, the jewel in the Sub Pop crown, are a 1989 rock'n'roll conundrum.
Self-confessed middle class brats ("I don't really have to earn a living. I live at home with my mom" - Steve, guitar), they're jocular, pleasant chaps. But when they become Mudhoney they transform into sneering, Stooge-ian snot-nosed nihilists.
Playing on vintage equipment and running out variations on traditional
rock'n'roll angst, Mudhoney verge on a historical renstruction of the
American '60s garage aesthetic.
With the same degree of hirony with which they buy Sham 69 singles, Mudhoney
teeter between a parody of barbarian musical codes and a sincere celebration
of primal rock at its most direct and unaffected. But the element of parody
is definitely there.
Steve: "You have to have that at this point in rock'n'roll. It's all been
done, it's all been proven. Say the MC5, they had something to believe in.
It turned out to be a total laughing stock in terms of their political
beliefs.
"There is room for real emotion in music, but I don't know if that's what
we are. I don't really care. I take Neil Young seriously - he hasn't turned
to be a fool yet."
Sincere or not, Mudhoney's music is convincing. There's a fierce chemistry
to the band that allows them to frequently transcend their obvious reference
points.
Mudhoney can be almost a conceptual joke - but, in the midst of their live
maelstrom, you'll find yourself believing rather than laughing.
Roy Wilkinson
RECCOMENDED LISTENING
"SUPERFUZZ BIGMUFF"
(Sub Pop, through Glitterhouse in UK)
© 1989 Sounds
