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■ BEST BET
« « The Red end Black « Thursday, October 29,1992
SOUND
Oh my. Sugar, featuring former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould
and Athens bassist David Barbe, crashes into the 40 Watt
tonight for an evening of thunderous guitar music. Gto see it, if
you think you can handle the decibels. Boo Radleys open.
Mudhoney's no sellout on ‘Piece of Cake’
Mudhoney's major label debut album on Reprise
Records is titled 'Piece of Cake.’
Izzy's newest fizzes
■ ALBUM REVIEW
By DAVID MONROE
Entertainment Editor
■ Mudhoney: "Piece of Cake"
(Repnse)
In “Overblown," a song on the
soundtrack to the film “Singles,"
Mudhoney vocalist Mark Arm lev
els this blast at Seattle music hype:
“Everybody loves us/Everybody
loves our town/That’s why I’m
thinking lately/To be leaving
now...It's so overblown."
He may be right. But if there
were any justice, his Seattle band
would hit it as big as its multiplat
inum neighbors. Nirvana and Pearl
Jam. The new Mudhoney album,
“Piece of Cake," is its first for a ma
jor label, and there’s no sign of a
sellout here.
Mudhoney was the last of the
big Seattle bands to sign with a ma
jor record company, after years
with the Seattle-based Sub Pop la
bel. But many had thought they’d
graduate a lot sooner. They have a
visceral and powerful sound: yowl
ing, from-the-gut vocals by Arm;
chainsaw-like guitars, played by
Arm and Steve Turner; rumbling
bass, courtesy of Matt Lukin; and
slamming drums played by Dan
Peters. It’s what you might call a
“controlled frenzy* — not anarchic
speed metal, but with a groove
more solid than, say, Motley Criie.
It’s messy rock-and-roll by a band
with a messy name, and it’s really
exciting.
Word is that the guys spent
more time in the studio recording
“Piece of Cake" than they did on
their previous efforts, and it shows.
The sound on this album — like the
last one, “Every Good Boy Deserves
Fudge" — isn’t as sludgy as their
earlier records. (Tlieir recently re
issued debut, “Superfuzz Bigmuff,"
sounds like an SST in a sewer.) But
unlike Nirvana’s, it isn’t smoothed
out by overproducing, either.
Oh, and by the way, there’s not
a weak song to be found on “Piece
of Cake."
Arm’s best songs seem to be his
angriest songs, and he’s included
several of those here — although,
unfortunately, “Overblown” isn’t
among them. Like Nirvana’s Kurt
Cobain, Arm uses this ferocious
music as a catharsis; on the pound
ing first single, the fuzzbox-heavy
“Suck You Dry," when Arm shouts
“No time like the present to get
ripped apart," you fear for the guy’s
health.
He spouts off on other grim sub
jects too. In “No End In Sight," he
rails at an inattentive parent
whose kid has turned to drugs.
“Wide awake for 99 hours/No sleep
tonight; he’ll be pushing up flow
ers. Arm snaps. In “I’m Spun," hfe’s
a psychopath going over the edge;
“Never know when you’ll
SNAP...never know when you’ll
BREAK...never know when you'll
CRACK," he shouts, as the guitars
squeal. Did I mention that this is
good catharsis for the listener as
well?
Mudhoney is also more creative
than its Seattle counterparts,
which means that “Piece of Cake"
has more variety. Along with the
mosh-pit anthems, they nave some
slower songs that are just as pow
erful. One, “Thirteenth Floor
Opening," is a grinding dirge about
a man who’s about to jump out a
window. Here, they tone down the
fuzz guitar for a more hypnotic
sound, and Arm’s vocals at tne be
ginning are almost...soothing. That
makes it even more haunting when
he muses, “When I land, I know I
will not be injurrrrred..." But, fear
not, the vocals and guitar eventual
ly build to a howl as the guy real
izes that what he’s about to do
might hurt.
Scarier still is the slinky “Let Me
Let You Down," which appears to
be about the seduction of a young
girl. With the other band members
chanting the title chorus over funky
bass, drums, and occasional splash
es of organ, Arm once again light
ens up. “All coiled up, ready to
strike...give me a reason not to
bite," he says teasingly. Then the
squealing guitar builds and the vo
cals become more menacing as he
moves in for the kill: “Don’t be
afraid now, come a little closer/ni
show you how it’s made; Til make
you feel older.” Ewwww
Mark Arm has disdained such
overused labels as “grunge" and
“Seattle music," saying that
Mudhoney’s music is “just basically
rock n’ roll." Well, if it’s only rock n’
roll, then I like it.
By MARK HODGES
Staff Writer
■ Izzy Stradlln and the Ju Ju
Hounds (Geffen)
When Guns ’N Roses realizes
what they lost when guitarist
Izzy Stradlin walked out on them
last year, this album will stand
proudly to rub the wound raw.
Being one of the principal
songwriters for G’N’R, Izzy was a
key figure in the success of the
“Use Your Illusion” epics, writing
or co-writing at least 12 of those
tunes. With his debut solo album,
he makes few compromises.
And, hey, the man can sing.
The first track, “Somebody
Knockin," has Keith Richards all
over it, with the early Stones’
R&B feel predominantly dis
played. Even Ronnie Wood him
self steps in with his own song
later in the album, “Take a Look
at the Guy." This strange ditty
features a dual guitar/vocal at
tack from Stradlin and Wood.
Beautiful.
But, with all due respect, to
write off this first outing by Izzy
to be a simple Stones rip would
be way too hasty. This album
lacks the presence of a Jagger or
even a Richards, to be honest.
Stradlin just happens to list
those Brits as one of many of his
influences.
Don’t believe me? Take a lis
ten to “Pressure Drop" or “Bucket
O’ Trouble," either one of which
could’ve been a G’N’R classic.
“Pressure Drop" is so punk
that it is hard to imagine it being
mixed in with all the straight
blues numbers. This one is hectic
and pushy, right in vour face.
'Die only problem with it is the
peculiar reggae ending. I guess
Axl really did rub off on the guy.
As for heavy rock, “Bucket O’
Trouble’ takes care of any notion
that this album isn’t hot.
Stradlin doesn’t just hang with
the best, he sets the standards.
The strongest cut on the al
bum, however, is a quirky acous
tic song, Time Gone By." This
song utilizes the percussion
prowess of Ju Ju Hound drum
mer Charlie Quintana to put an
exotic appeal on a standard blues
riff. Bringing it all together,
Stradlin gives us an unusual look
into his range of songwriting
ability.
Most of the other songs on the
record are bar-band stompers
that don’t try to be anytning
more than simple good-time rock
tunes. Stradlin doesn’t waste en
ergy on fillers, keeping this al
bum at 10 tracks with a “sur
prise" instrumental aptly named
^Morning Tea."
Want to see what G’N'R is
missing out on? Grab this one
and play it loud so you won’t be
shocked when the next G’N'R ef
fort is lame. You'll expect it to be.
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