Mudhoney Articles
Missoulanews.com
22 August '02
MUDHONEY
Since We've Become Translucent
You young people of today, you can't even imagine what it was like to be hanging
on Sub Pop's every release back in the late '80s and early '90s. It was uphill both
ways to get to the record store, and we used to fight each other with knives over
the latest single with the blurry Charles Peterson photograph and songs that reflected
our generational malaise in titles like "Thorn" and "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet
No More."
I'm not even kidding! We loved that grunge, boy. Hated the word, loved those records.
Seattle was a magical place many of us had never been to, but where we were sure you
couldn't walk around downtown without running into members of Mudhoney waiting to get
on the monorail or the Screaming Trees eating at Burger King. It blew our minds when
the first Mudhoney video made it to MTV's "120 Minutes."
Mudhoney never played here, but I bet they will sometime in the next year. I just have
a hunch. And I will go see them, if only out of fealty to the former self who would once
have quit any job on the spot to see them if the boss wouldn't give him the night off.
'Cause this new Mudhoney wouldn't have made the slightest dent on me if I hadn't been a
fan for so long now. Sorry to say, it's the limpest one since Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter
Stew. Maybe I just can't relate with the dripping sarcasm anymore. It might also have
something to do with half of the riffles and vocal phrasing grafted directly from previous
releases. Romper-stompers like "Take It Like a Man" and "Crooked and Wide" show up too late
in the game, and the wah-wah pedal has officially worn out its welcome. Talk about getting
on the monorail — Mudhoney have been stuck on it for almost 15 years!
