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Rating: 1992: the Grunge explosion is at its peak. Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam are dominating the charts everywhere, media and critics have their eyes focused on Seattle, and the record labels are bending over backward to scoop up the new Kurt Cobains or Eddie Vedders. In the meantime, they are dredging up most of the independent bands that have so greatly inspired the new golden geese of rock music. This leads to paradoxical situations: bands like Melvins, Meat Puppets, Butthole Surfers (!!) are signing with major labels... only to return to independent reality once the grunge hurricane has passed, of course.
Among the excellent rediscoveries of those years, there are also them, the Mudhoney, who primarily contributed to creating that sound now so sought after and profitable, moving from the beloved Sub Pop to Reprise, a subsidiary of Time Warner. So what changes in Mudhoney's house with the transition to the mainstream?
Absolutely nothing. In fact, not only do Mark Arm and company not achieve notable commercial results with this "Piece of Cake", their third full-length (only the single "Suck You Dry" would have good success, remaining moreover the only single in their career to reach the higher zones of the charts), but they do not change the coordinates of their dirty, distorted, and unhealthy sound at all. Besides, if Arm or Turner wanted to change skins, they vented in other projects, see "The Freewheelin' Mark Arm" or the talented Monkeywrench. And indeed, the references are always the same: '60s style garage, Stooges, MC5, Count Five, and Blue Cheer, seasoned with patented Fuzz and Muff distortions. There are few novelties: the Hammond organ returns, already present from the previous album "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge", here enhancing the almost soul "Let Me Let You Down", the lively instrumental "Youth Body Expression Explosion" and "When in Rome", a ballad with a '70s flavor that slightly reminds me of the pop-rock ballads that the Red Hot Chili Peppers would propose from "Californication" onwards.
The real surprise of "Piece of Cake" is, however, the concluding "Acetone", a country ballad that you wouldn't actually expect from the kings of Fuzz. Initially making you raise an eyebrow, the piece soon earns appreciation. The best song on the record, however, in my opinion, is the spectacular "Blinding Sun", with the historic refrain "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!", which is still (fortunately) a cornerstone at concerts today.
What else to say about "Piece of Cake"? That on the one hand, the link to their style is strong, so much so that in some tracks the compositional solutions recall other songs: like the energetic single "Suck You Dry", which echoes the atmospheres and themes of the legendary "Touch Me I'm Sick", or "13th Floor Opening" (a homage?), which wallows in the same mire that made "Mudride" so great, without, however, matching its intensity; on the other hand, beneath the distortion, one can read between the lines a desire to experiment, as in the aforementioned songs or in the idea of the 4 bizarre instrumental tracks, each composed by a group member solo, that introduce and intersperse the album. In any case, an excellent product, even if not up to the best releases signed by Mudhoney.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 No End in Sight (03:35)
The way I see it you must be blind
But can you spare a dime?
Can't you see your son is in too deep
Burning in the final sleep
Wide awake for ninety nine hours
No sleep tonight
He'll be pushing up flowers
Second chance he'll never get
A special high for blazes, burn
Left behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Let behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Running frantic without a clue
In the sand looking straight at you
Nothing straight, the world goes around
No one's safe until they're deep in the ground
Shot in the back, stopped in your tracks
The shifting sands coming over us
A second chance he hasn't got
It all boils down and turned around
Left behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Left Behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
There's so many times I couldn't bear to watch
Witness the boredom of you thinking all soft
He left his mark, he left you blind
Chasing the dream, left sleep behind
Left behind
Left and Right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Left behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
No end in sight
No end in sight
06 Suck You Dry (02:34)
Pull yourself together
Take a stab at forever
Relax and let yourself go
Put yourself together
Take a shot at forever
Sit back, let the tears flow
No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry
Come a little closer
Before I slide over
Come on, I want you to burn
Come a little closer
Before I take you over
Come now, watch myself burn
No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry
No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry
07 Blinding Sun (03:38)
We fell asleep on the riverbank one sunny afternoon
We fell asleep on the riverbank one sunny afternoon
Woke with a rope around my neck, swear I did no wrong
Blinding Sun, beats down in my eyes
Blinding Sun, beats down in my eyes
Had my fill on the river bank, with you by my side
What have I done?
What have I done?
Can't be long to the setting of the sun
No, it can't be long now to the setting of the sun
Maybe then I'll see, maybe then I'll fight or run
Who are you, and what do you want?
Who are you, and what do you want?
Your countenance shines brighter than the midday sun
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
Just my luck if nightfall never comes
Be just my luck if nightfall never comes
Waiting with a rope around my neck for the setting of the sun
Sun, sun, why don't you set?
Said, sun, sun, why don't you set?
Try to put this all behind me, but I can't forget
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
Where have you gone?
What have I done?
What have I done?
08 Thirteenth Floor Opening (02:30)
If I try I could fly right through that window
If I try I could fly right through that window
Just can't find my way to the door
When I land I know I will not be injured
When I land I know I will not be injured
There's no way that I can hurt any more
Got an open mind
Up on the thirteenth floor
Got an open heart
Up on the thirteenth floor
Found an open window
Up on the thirteenth floor
Everything's wide open - oh
On the thirteenth floor
10 I'm Spun (04:05)
I'm spun
I'm spun
I'm spun
I'm spun
Let's get it straight I'm a ricochet
Bouncing off these walls I could hit you all
When you see me come you better run
Yeah yeah, the world keeps spinning
It don't affect the way I'm thinking
I'm spun outta control
I'm spun now you're spun
Let's get it straight I'm a ricochet
Bouncing off these walls I could hit you all
When you see me come you better run
Yeah yeah, the earth spins today
My head spins the other way
Now you see what happened to me
Watch me feeling, get the feeling
Afraid it's true, afraid it can happen to you
You know it's true, it can happen to you
Never know when you'll snap
Never know when you'll break
Never know when you'll crack
All you know is you can't track back
I'm spun I've come undone
I'm spun, yeah I'm almost caught
Let's get it straight, I'm a ricochet Bouncing off these walls I could hit you all
When you see me come you better run
I'm spun
13 Living Wreck (03:30)
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
C'mon too cool and collected
Claiming how you're so well-connected
With the thousands you've infected
Who turn out to be just as wretched
This living wreck will come to crash again
Time is tight and I just might come back to what you are
Nasty things you're trying to hatch
Snakes and bugs make no kind of match
What the hell you trying to catch
Trading your friends for cold hard cash
This living wreck will come to crash again
Time is tight and I just might come back to what you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
We got a date, you left your house
To step on up to a higher ground
Shoot for the stars 'cause she's been shown
Good God your ambition's gone
This living wreck has come to crash again
This living wreck has come to crash again
This living wreck has come to crash again
This living wreck has come to crash again
Time is tight and I just might come back to what you are
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