Mudhoney

Mudhoney were pretty much the first ones out of the gate in the great grunge Olympics, and they were always the best, too. Combining sarcastic humour with Stooges-inspired fuzz and blatant nihilism with nary a magazine-cover friendly face in sight, they always seemed the most real of the Seattle bunch. Well, it's 14 or so years later and these old "Touch Me I'm Sickies" are back with a new full-length epic on the label that they started with. Always riding the line between '60s guitar freak-outs and pure garage punk fury, Mudhoney have now upped the ante with a heavy horn section and some hard psychedelic shit. You know you're in for something cool when the opening track clocks in at eight-and-a-half-minutes and is entitled "Baby, Can You Dig The Light," which delivers the goods right on time, of course. This record, their first outing with new bass player Guy Maddison, also showcases this fresh and revitalised group blasting through their trademark-style poison pen rave-ups, such as "The Straight Life" and "Inside Job." Sliding into a swirling Hawkwind-style for the stunning album closer "Sonic Infusion," Mudhoney prove once and for all that there doesn't have to be a "best before date" on any great band.