1*
ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Monday, October 23, 1989
Page 8
Mudhoney
wallows
in noise
BY NABEEL ZUBERI
SEATTLE'S warm and wet loins
gave birth to '60s garage fuzz gods
The Sonics and from its womb Jimi
Hendrix did spring forth to let the
world know what heavenly reverbera-
tions could be gotten from a wah-
wah pedal and a fuzzbox. Mudhoney
is continuing the good work of their
city's godfathers, spreading the
Gospel of The Guitar far and wide.
These greboid grungemeisters have
sent heads spinning in Europe as
well as the North American conti-
nent.
Mudhoney is a mixture of the
finest guitar detritus of the last 30
years. If you can conceive of a liq-
uidizer homogenizing the Stooges,
Blue Cheer, "Sister Ray," early
Black Sabbath, Mitorhead's "Ace Of
,Spades," and every song on the
Nuggets or Pebbles records, Mud-
honey is what you get when the
spinning and churning are over.
Their album Superfuzz Bigmuff
(named after guitarist Steve's two
favorite wah-wah pedals) features
quite possibly the sickest song of
the decade.
"Touch Me I'm Sick" is the anti-
Christ single of the year. Gloriously
syphilitic, its musical scabs and
sores have you cringing with excru-
ciating pleasure. It has you retching,
vomiting, regurgitating and then
grooving uncontrollably as it scrapes
away at your skin. Can you remem-
ber the last time a song affected you
so physically? It certainly grabbed
Sonic Youth, who covered it and
then asked Mudhoney to record a
version of their own "Halloween."
Mudhoney's version of the latter is
pretty damn scary. Listening to it
puts you inside the mind of Charles
Manson when he heard "Helter Skel-
ter." It explores the way the devil
gets inside of us through a song.
When Mark Arm groans "You're
fuckin' with me/ You're fuckin'
with me," you understand that rock
'n' roll is indeed the devil's music
They come, bearing The Gift
Bullet Lavolta combines hardcore punk sensibility with searing metal
guitar riffs. Bullet's thrashing sound has packed houses all over the
East Coast and Europe, and they'll expose Ann Arbor club goers to their
intoxicating energy at the Blind Pig tonight when they open for
Mudhoney. Most of the tunes Bullet Lavolta will play are from their new
and first LP The Gift, which was originally put out by Taang Records!
and has been rereleased this fall by RCA. Listen especially for the
melodic title song, "The Gift," the ominous "Over the Shoulder," and the
pure punk lament "Dead Wrong." -Michael J. Young
and that, despite its clich6s, it can
reveal the dark and scummy side of
our psyches.
Along with its members' taste
for sleaze, Mudhoney is funky as
hell, something you'd expect from a
band who takes its name from a
Russ Meyer sexploitation flick.
They also resurrect the '70s in their
music, drawing upon this much ma-
ligned decade for inspiration. The
'70s had spunk and verve, and Mud-
honey isn't afraid to be dirty in the
squeaky clean '80s.
It was Oscar Wilde who said
something about us all being in the
gutter and that only a few of us look
to the stars, but Mudhoney has no
shame in simply splashing around in
the gutter with their noisy guitars. If
you enjoy a spot of wallowing your- 9
self, you'll be in pig heaven at the
Blind Pig tonight.
MUDHONEY, with guests BULLET
LA VOLTA and BIG CHIEF, will
play tonight at the Blind Pig at 9:30
p.m. Tickets are $7 in advance.
"Touch Me I'm Sick" is but one of Mudhoney's songs destined to make you take a spiral twist dive into ma-
lignant illness. The music can't become any more satanic tonight unless Mudhoney plays backwards.
IT'S
0
DAY!!
SAVE ON NICE PRICED
MUSIC FROM CBS AT
E MICHIGANK
JUDAS PRIEST
DEFIEND)ERS
OF TIHE FAITH
Including:
Freewheel Burning/Love Bites
Rock Hard Ride Free/Heavy Duty
1
or
or
or
or
I
MICHAEL
JACKSON
ncuding:
Rock With You
Shes Out Of My Life
Dont Stop'Til You Get Enough
Working Day And Night
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RED SPEEDWAGON
You Can Tune a Piano,
but You Can't
Tuna Fish
Jr
Join
the Singles
Club!I
POSTERS,
POSTERS,
POSTERS!
Willie Nelson
Always on
My Mind
Greatest Hits from:
Santana; Chicago;
Carole King;
Teddy Pendergrass;
Blood, Sweat & Tears;
& more!
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