from the 7” single, Sub Pop Records, 1988Emerging from the gutters of Seattle like some deformed & distorted mutation of post-hardcore craziness, Mudhoney continues to be the gold standard by which “grunge” rock will be judged; appropriately enough, as their ranks included members of both the Melvins and Green River, two bands that are generally considered to be the foundational loins from which grunge was birthed. Their sound was much less influenced by heavy metal than the above-mentioned bands, being guided instead by the ghosts of hardcore and sludgy indie rock, owing as much to garage punks like the Replacements as they did to bands like Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. Between the wind-up, stop-start drumming, the tornadic squall of guitar death, and filthy lyrics (i.e. “…I'm diseased, I don't mind, I'll make you love me 'till the day you die…touch me, I'm sick; fuck me, I'm sick…Come on baby, now cum with me, if you don't cum, if you don’t cum, if you don't cum, you'll die alone...”), this maelstrom of a track makes a pretty damn good case for all the hype & attention that Seattle wound up getting in its wake!
