Review Summary: Mudhoney get more interesting with age
Punk Rock and alternative has become so complex these days. Modern bands try a lot of different ways to make a statement. They adopt a bizarre look such as purple eye-shadow, give countless interviews to magazines, use a voice-box to amplify their pain etc.
Mark Arm of Mudhoney knows how to make a statement - that's what the lyrics are for - and he doesn't waste any opportunity to vent his frustration on several subjects. This is hard-hitting, witty, social commentary that often deals with sensitive subjects. In particular, 'Kill yourself live' is an example of the type of social commentary that is sorely lacking in modern rock. Arm mercilessly ridicules teenagers who live-stream their suicide, and Arm makes it clear he doesn't believe in any sort of misplaced sympathy - "Be creative, show us what you got... use a filter with bunny ears, maybe add some dancing fruit" and later "You were such a special child, you'll be memorialised, they'll ask how society failed you" - now, when you stop and think about the subject, some people will feel repulsed by what Arm is saying, while others will enjoy the black humour, but isn't that what punk and protest rock is supposed to do, make people stop and think about confronting issues?
On many other tracks Arm takes aim at evangelical politicians and modern Christians. He rails angrily on 21st Century Pharisees 'Sanctimonious pieces of sh*t, … keep your vile hands to yourself'. 'Please Mr Gunman' is a very clever song. He uses situation of a gunman shooting people to highlight how much modern people identifying as Christian don’t take their religion seriously… then you ponder the line “since we can’t stop you”… and you realise it's a beautiful insight into how so many Christian politicians in America advocate for gun rights.
Other than ‘Kill yourself live’, the highlight is surely ‘Paranoid core’ perfectly meshing humour with political commentary. Now, unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of this album when it was released in 2018, and while it seems like a shame I missed it, some of the messages seem more pertinent now, for example, the lyrics ‘squirrel away food, stockpile guns, hoard your fuel’ – while ‘Hey Neanderf*ck’ could be an even better insight into what would happen with, well, say a certain ‘tycoon’ who wanted more power.
There are other gems that aren’t socially conscious. The opening ‘Nerve Attack’ is an energetic number that might be about the electric chair, ‘Night and Fog’ is an evocative nightmare song that sends shivers of fear down your spine.
The music is generally hard rock n roll with a 60’s surfer / garage band feel to it. The production is clean and the vocals loud and crisp, even if Mark Arm isn’t always in tune. However, Mudhoney have become quite competent musicians and sometimes the guitar jams are very good. One song benefits from a harmonica, while some organ appears occasionally.
I couldn’t really bring myself to give this album 5 stars because a couple of the songs towards the end of the album aren’t quite as interesting as the opening passage of songs, but this is still a very strong effort.
While ‘Digital Garbage’ doesn’t bring much in the way of a inspiring artistic statement, musically, it’s a potent message delivered in a ‘back-to-basics’ alternative rock format that allows lyrical subject matter to reign supreme, with enjoyable guitar rock backing it up all the way.
