It may be more of a straight-ahead, balls-out rock record than they have produced in a while, but it just cannot compete with the sheer youthful exuberance, viscera and punk energy of Superfuzz.
Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff [Deluxe Edition]/ The Lucky Ones
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Subpop, ever eager to milk a cash-cow, have seen fit to release a souped-up ‘deluxe edition’ of the twenty year old Mudhoney EP Superfuzz Bigmuff. This release coincides with the band’s new album The Lucky Ones and therefore provides a useful point of comparison to see how the band has changed in the last two decades.
The EP is bolstered with a slew of extras: early singles, b-sides and, on the second of the two discs, two sets of live and session material. Tracks such as Touch Me I’m Sick and Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More underline the power of the band during this period. It is the live tracks, however, that present the best value in this re-release: perfectly encapsulating that early scratchy, fuzzed-out and fucked up aggression.
The contention in my opening paragraph that we could hear development is something of a misnomer. What Mudhoney have done on The Lucky Ones is to refine that brand of garage rock. So the Mudhoney hallmarks are all present on the new release: big riffs, epic drums, growling vocals. They continue to present an unrelenting aural assault. Some of the roughness has gone, but the extra polish of a long career hasn’t softened their edges. Despite the song title And The Shimmering Light, that particular quality isn’t much in evidence. ‘Mudhoney’ has ever seemed something of a misnomer: there is very little sweetness to be found in their canon, but the ‘mud’ is much in evidence – theirs is a world of dirty rock and roll, inhabiting the same plane of existence as Iggy in his Stooges pomp.
However, if you contrast that new album with its ageing sibling, it is found wanting. It may be more of a straight-ahead, balls-out rock record than they have produced in a while, but it just cannot compete with the sheer youthful exuberance, viscera and punk energy of Superfuzz.
Words: Stuart Crosse