Mudhoney Articles
Rockstar
May '95
Translated from Italian
My Brother The Cow
MUDHONEY ARE AMONG those bands that in the second half of the '80s have
characterized the sound of Seattle and by that sound they now seem to
be slaves. The only new thing in this record then is the maturity of
the band, that has become more refined and accessible. As its predecessors
My Brother The Cow starts from Hendrix to build up a garage
rock sound that never forgets about Stooges, MC5 and psychedelic blues.
"J, R, R & Thyme" opens the record in a tight and syncopated way, with
some light guitar overflows. "Generation Spokesmodel" is more fluid
("Look at me and you'll recognise your face", sings Mark Arm), while
"What Moves The Heart" is more refined and less violent. It's a song
as simple as rich of a feeling pervaded by a blues melanchony. "Today
Is A Good Day" is the first climax. It soon recalls Nirvana and here
at last Mark can give full power to his excellent singer skills. When
he sings "It's a good day cause I still got you" a claustrophobic pain
comes out, and not joy as it should be. The album goes on alternating
rithmic explosions and crescendo's in typical Mudhoney style ("Into
Your Schtick"), and slow pieces that are more influenced by the old
rock traditions, as it happens in "In My Finest Suit", where Mark
"howls" his blues about the mysteries of birth and death. "Fearless
Doctor Killers" instead is unusually on a social consideration about
the abortist medics killed in the name of life by some fanatics {"Kill
the doctor and save the child"). From this track on, the album gives
its best and a blues spirit is revisited, twisted or simply unificated
into the band's schizoid and claustrophobic rock. Here Mark can
finally set his wild frantic voice totally free, creating very
incisive atmospheres.
My Brother The Cow is a more than well done LP. The only
critic that I feel like doing is about its fact of being on the limit
of a cliché that risks to reduce the strenght of this really
valid band.
7,5 / 10
