Album Reviews

- by Tom Dumarey

I guess no one ever told the guys from Mudhoney that grunge went away for a while. And so they just kept on going. They have been shredding and voicing their discontent for over 30 years now. As a matter of fact, they have been going at it for so long now that grunge is back for another round. And with a name like ‘Digital Garbage,’ you can already tell that they still aren’t happy with the way things are going.

Ever since the release of their self-titled debut back in 1989, Mudhoney have kept evolution to a strict minimum. And that’s no different on album number ten. The guitars are loud, the drums are pounding, Mark Arm is still pissed off and the whole thing sounds as dreary as the weather Seattle is mostly associated with. What did change in the last couple of years though, is that they sound even tighter and hit just a little bit harder than ever before. And whether Arm is venting about Trump’s America and the religious right (‘Paranoid Core’, ‘21^st Century Pharisees’, ‘Prosperity Gospel’), social media (‘Kill Yourself Live’) or shooting sprees (‘Please Mr. Gunman’), it always feels righteous. And it is always backed up by the kind of solid songwriting they have been known for since they first started out.

Track listing:

1. Nerve Attack
2. Paranoid Core
3. Play
4. Please Mr. Gunman
5. Kill Yourself Live
6. Night and Fog
7. 21st Century Pharisees
8. Hey Neanderfuck
9. Prosperity Gospel
10. Messiah's Lament
11. Next Mass Extinction
12. Oh Yeah