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Rating:
"Who are these MudhoneyS ?? Are they famous on MTV ??"
Legend has it that these were the words of Bill Clinton when he was told that during his visit to the White House in the year of our Lord 1994, not only would his beloved Pearl Jam be arriving, but also Mark Arm and company. And so, while Vedder and company were received with great pomp by Mister President, the scruffy Mudhoneys were diverted on an alternative tour of the presidential residence, most likely stopping in the basement in search of cans of Budweiser.
The amusing anecdote illustrates well the trajectory of Mudhoney: among the very first to discover the golden vein around Seattle, but too lazy and apathetic to be interested in exploiting its potential, ultimately yielding the spotlight to others. The Seattle quartet also shot themselves in the foot in this regard by releasing their most convoluted and inward-facing album, "Piece of Cake," just after the boom of "Nevermind," a garage-punk fetish of theirs. With "My Brother the Cow," there was a decisive return to form, aided by the concise production of a Jack Endino in shape as in the days of "SuperfuzzBigmuff." Their sound, made of noxious and distorted garage-punk stabs seasoned with harsh proto-hard rock dynamics and a touch of rasping psychedelia, although not offering surprises among these grooves, at least managed to insert some pearls of great value into their repertoire. "My Brother the Cow" was also influenced by the gunshot that marked the definitive watershed in the saga of Seattle: not in an inspired and dramatic way as in Pearl Jam's "Vitalogy," but with the desecrating and combative spirit that has never abandoned the quartet of " Touch me I'm Sick."
The first single released was "Generation Spokesmodel," a brash anti-anthem that mocks the myth of flannel, the MTV-Spin Magazine diarchy, and the supermarket grunge generation, complete with a bitter dedication from Mark Arm to his friend Kurt ("thanks to the guys for making me who I am, twenty percent of the credit goes to that person"). Even more explicit is the mocking "Into yer shtik," where Cobain's widow is invited without much circumlocution to imitate his final step. The best moments, however, can be found in the muddy spiral of "In my finest suit," whose heartrending chords recall the glories of "If I Think" with an irresistible crescendo that sublimates in the refrain " Well I got you, I got a lot to lose," while the curtain falls with the acid-freak whirlwind of "1995," among the scorching guitar throbs of Steve Turner and free winds à la "Fun House." "It's 1995, all right They say I'm lucky to be alive," spits into the microphone with the usual sarcasm Mark Arm. Lucky us too, to still have these incorrigible rascals around.
Rating 3.5
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Judgement, Rage, Retribution and Thyme (02:34)
When I look in the mirror
In front of me
In any old mirror
That's in front of me
Trouble, trouble
Is all I see
The shadow I cast
Is dark and long
Beware of my shadow
It's dark and long
When I turn your corner
You best be gone
Since the day of my birth
I've known I wasn't right
Ooh, ooh, ooh
I'm not right
Got something awful
Living inside
Oh look out
Well, I'm at the end of my rope
And the end of my days
At the end of my rope
At the end of my days
Gonna storm the Pearly Gates
And make them pay
02 Generation Spokesmodel (02:32)
Oh I got these looks
That just won't quit
I got at least
A half of some kind of wit
I got a guitar
Check it out
I'm a star
Hey kids how'd I look on
The cover of Spin
Well well
We're all gone
Well well
Right on right on right on
Listen to my songs
I guarantee you'll relate
Look at me
Recognize your face
My daddy's rich
And my mama's good lookin' yeah
Hush little baby
So am I
Well well
We're all gone
Well well
Right on right on right on
Well I'm the spokesmodel
Of your generation baby
I'll leave my shirt
For revalation
Thanks to the kids
For making me who I am
Twenty percent of the gross
Goes straight to the man
Well well
We're all gone
Well well
Right on right on right on
05 Into Yer Shtik (03:48)
You're so tormented
Demented
Indebted
To all the assholes just like you
Who've come and gone before you
Predictable
Just plain dull
Why don't you
Blow your brains out, too?
You're so into yer shtik
You're so hounded
Ungrounded
Surrounded
By scum sucking leeches
Who will shovel your shit
Sweep your dessert
Both before and after it
Feed your ego
They never tell you no
All of you
Make me sick
You're so into yer shtik
And they're all into your shtik
Well, Mitchell's got a new girl
She's nineteen
Hollywood model
Star of the screen
She's up here
To support the scene
It's all part
Of his rock and roll fantasy
Stan was at the bar
With bandaged hands
They tried to dry him out
And he got mad
Cut his fist
Punching hospital glass
Made his myth
Now he's trapped
Susie's just a girl
Who's doing her job
That came to New York
And wanted a car
Working with the management
To the stars
Kissing ass
Is a part of her job
It's part of her job
Yeah, it's part of her job
Oh she loves her job
What the hell?
She does it so well
I'm not perfect
I've lived a life of mistakes
I'm not perfect
There's one thing I can't take
You are into yer shtik
You're so into yer shtik
And they're so into yer shtik
Fuck you, you make me sick
06 In My Finest Suit (04:56)
Oh I can't remember
The day I was born
But I can clearly see
The day I die
A lot of wrong went on
Between the two
You came along
And somehow made it right
Oh I got you I got a lot to lose
Yeah, I got you
Got a lot, a lot to lose
Oh I came naked
Into this world
Oh unprepared
For the horrible truth
Got wrapped up
In a web of lies
On the day I die
They'll wrap me in my finest suit
Well, I got my suit
And I got you
Oh I got a lot to lose
Got a lot, a lot to lose
I'd give up anything for you
Wish I could
Do what you did for me
Wish I could
Make it all worth while
Do you need me
Like I need you
Will you be with me
On the day I die
Oh I got you
That's a lot to lose
Got a lot, a lot to lose
Got a lot, a lot, a lot to lose
I'll give up everything for you
08 Orange Ball-Peen Hammer (03:20)
Runnin' nightly
Through the streets of Jacksonville
Seekin' out swampy refuge
In some Florida glade
Oh ain't no refuge
In the Everglades, my friend
No buffalo
Left in the Everglades
Ball-peen hammer
Goin' for my head
Florida buffalo
Long since dead
Squeeze my orange
Till the juice runs down my leg
Caught in the movie house
Orange juice on my leg
Landed in jail
Lost my turn
Let me tell you now
A day without orange juice
Is like a night in jail
Ball-peen hammer
Goin' for my head
Runnin' with orange juice
Drippin' down my leg
Ball-peen hammer
Goin' for my head
Florida orange juice
Drippin' down my leg
Ball-peen hammer
Goin' for my head
Florida buffalo
Long since dead
10 Execution Style (02:24)
You got me on the chopping block
Threatening to cut me up
If that's the way you get your kicks
Come on, make it clean and quick
I don't care what you do
I just want to get next to you
Execution style
Baby, baby, I'm hanging loose
Dangling on the end of your nose
Squeeze it so my neck will snap
You know I'm digging where you're at
I just want to get next to you
I don't care what you do
I don't care what you do
I just want to get next to you
Execution style
Baby, baby, I don't care
Baby, baby, I don't care
Baby, baby, I don't care
Strapped electric chair
I just want to get next to you
I don't care what you do
I don't care what you do
I just want to get next to you
I just want to get next to you
I don't care what you do
I don't care what you do
I just got to get next to you
Execution style
11 Dissolve (03:16)
Watch me
Now
They line them up
They make them stand tall
They line them up
Just to watch 'em fall
Oh I don't think I can take no more
And I don't think I want no more
Gonna walk right through that open door
And lock it tight behind me
No, I don't like it here
No, I don't like at all
No, I don't like it here
Watch me while I dissolve
I'm gone
But I know where to find you
If I want to
I'm gone
12 1995 (05:44)
Well, it's 1995, my friend and we're closin' in on the end
Another year for you and me
Time to recognize what you see
What you lookin' at
What you lookin' at
What are you lookin' at
What are you lookin' at
It's 1995 all right
They say I'm lucky to be alive
Yeah, me and everybody else
Along with you and everybody else, huh
What you lookin' at What you lookin' at
What the fuck are you lookin' at
What are you lookin' at
It's gettin' ugly
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