May you live in interesting times.
That Chinese proverb is supposedly a curse, and if it’s put into the context of 2018 it can sometimes feel that way. Although tumultuous times may be a more fitting label for the year of the dog considering facts disproving statements from the parties in power are decried as “fake news,” mass shootings seemingly happen daily and sexual assault allegations against a Supreme Court nominee are written off as partisan politics.
Interesting? Sure. Tumultuous? Definitely.
Unfortunately, not many rock bands have used this volatile climate as fuel to create angry, powerful, statement-making art. Thankfully, Mudhoney aren’t most rock bands.
The venerable Seattle icons, who are in their 30th year together, released a fiery record filled with caustic barbs and searing humor with their tenth full-length record “Digital Garbage.” It is an album chock full of scathing social commentary on topics ranging from gun violence to the stupidity of social media. Throughout the record the band pulls no punches calling out false prophets, addressing anxieties caused by constant exposure to news cycles and the catastrophic effects of selfishly making a buck while not giving a damn about the consequences.
Each song on the album has feeling of immediacy with Mudhoney attacking the turbulent state of the world using the same punk rock ferocity they’ve maintained throughout their career, sounding just as good in their fifties as they did in their twenties. The times may have changed, but Mudhoney’s fire hasn’t aged one bit.
It’s that same ferocity, along with some sharp-tongued lyrics, that makes “Digital Garbage” feel like the only rock record that matters in 2018.
On “Paranoid Core” Arm, whose voice seemingly hasn’t aged a day, rails against robots and aliens that will steal your job and rape your mom. He goes on to almost proudly declare “I stoke the fire in your paranoid core. I feed on your fear” in a chorus that only Mudhoney can make work.
“Please Mr. Gunman” doesn’t find Arm pleading with a shooter for his life, rather he wants to choose the location of where his death happens since he accepts death by mass shooting as inevitable. A crunchy Steve Turner riff and steady Dan Peters drumbeat help sell Arm’s argument.
Elsewhere, Peters and bassist Guy Madison take center stage on “Night and Fog,” which is the best Doors b-side that band never wrote. Arm talk-sings throughout the song until he screams out its closing words “Who will cry for you when you disappear?”
The single “Kill Yourself Live” attempts to sell the benefits of streaming your own suicide (“Do it for the likes”) and lists the many ways you could pull off such a stunt (“Use a filter with bunny ears, maybe add some dancing fruit.”) Go ahead and give it a shot because just like everything that gets posted to social media, you’ll end up living on as digital garbage anyway.
“Prosperity Gospel” begins with a bang with arm angrily screaming the lyrics “Fuck the planet, screw the children, get rich, you win!” On “Hey Neanderfuck” Arm’s lyrical crosshairs are focused on a pathetic man who makes everyone else miserable. And on “21st Century Pharisees” Arm sings about an evangelical hypocrite who doesn’t care about your Jesus and comes to the conclusion that you could also care less.
Yes folks, Mudhoney is angry. And they’ve taken that anger and turned it into of the best records of their career.
