Here Comes Sickness - Mudhoney In Town

Mudhoney - those prolific garage rock Gods are back for a stop in New York, tonight for a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg(terrible name, venue was formerly known as North Six).

For this string of shows (yesterday they played at Maxwells, tomorrow at the Bowery Ballroom) they're playing their classic release Superfuzz Bigmuff in it's entirety.

Mudhoney is a band that you either like or don't. Mark Arm's probably isn't going to take conventional vocal lessons anytime soon because he knows that his brand of nasal delivery is something to be treasured. They are a classic garage band with an emphasis on fuzz with a knack for grooves.

The band as many have pointed out, love the Stooges, some say to a fault. With Mudhoney though, there was always an excellent sense of groove and a need to laugh at yourself. A sense of humor that wasn't found with some of the other large-scale grunge bands.

Off the Superfuzz Bigmuff release, I would argue that every single track is classic but some particular highlights are In and Out of Grace, Need, If I Think, and of course Touch Me I'm Sick.

My only regret is that I'd love them to play basically everything featured on March to Fuzz (a great hits compilation put out a few years back along with the new album).

When I made my to do list recently I actually didn't know Mud was in town - maybe this is their big shot and they'll work in a new single or two?

Concert Review: Mudhoney with Birds of Avalon and Hank IV

I saw Mudhoney play at Warsaw about 3 years ago to support of Since We've Become Translucent in Brooklyn to a small but enthusiastic crowd so I was extremely enthused about them playing in Manhattan itself in support of the excellent Under a Billion Suns.

I was sitting on the second floor balcony when the opening act, Hank IV (Their sound could best be described as old school punk in the vein of Dead Kennedys, but with apolitical lyrics.) started. As soon as we heard the opening riff to the first song and witnessed the crazy dance moves of the singer, Bob McDonald, we rushed down. You haven't seen a real dancer till you see this man's spastic, goofy moves. Bonus points for not giving a shit what people think. By the 3rd song, they'd won the crowd over.

In reference to the second act I heard the bar back comment 'the next band, birds of avalon kick ass.' Quite a claim Mr. Bar Back. Quite a claim. That said, they were definitely fun to watch, if at times, not so engaging. I appreciated the twin les paul attack, and at times dual solos of the guitarists - a rare things these days. The drummer and bassist were solid. The only thing that took me a while to warm to was the singer who seemed intent on doing a robert plant vocal impersonation - though that may be because of sound at the venue. I would give seeing the band another go for sure. The crowd was into them - I can see why folks dug it.

Mudhoney's performance at the Knitting Factory last night(The 1st of 2 nights) put to bed any concerns that Mudhoney couldn't bring the rock and attract younger fans. Interestingly, there were many, many kids who were round high school age, and even neater - they knew all the songs too.

Going on just after 11, they played 5 songs from the new album including a crowd fav, "hard on for war." I really happy with the song mix. Equal parts: old, middle, and new periods and a few surprises like Sonic Reducer and Inside Job. The performance was everything I love about the band: A ton of energy, great sense of humor and very loose grooves.