Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Sounds like a load of songs that didn’t quite make the Tony Hawks soundtrack.

On my first attempt at university, I was not a good student. Tuesdays, in particular, I would go to my 11am English lit lecture with my mate Grant, and then we would trundle off to Manning Bar when it opened at noon, because Tuesday was band day. Every lunchtime there would be a free band, usually some local alternative band. But hard to argue with free, right? One week in March of 1990, we ambled up to the bar, where they were lugging in very large, but incredibly beaten up, amplifiers. "Who's playing?" I enquired of Ian the Activities Officer. "Mudhoney" he replied. "Cool", I thought. The chance to see an overseas band was a special treat, and I knew the name, even if I wasn't familiar with their music. At 1pm, they shambled out and ripped through a cacophonous and powerful set, largely based on Superfuzz Bigmuff and their self-titled record. They were a revelation. They were loud and fast and angsty and funny and drunk as hell (at lunchtime!). This was music as I wanted it to be. Proper dangerous punk rock that didn't take itself too seriously. As I recall, lots of people thought it was a terrible racket and left, but it sure made a mark on me. As soon as the set finished, I hiked up to Scratches Records at Newtown and bought a copy of Superfuzz Bigmuff, which is one of my all-time favourite records. I went to see them a few times that tour, and on their next tour, which was in December of the same year if I remember correctly. I saw them at the Lansdowne Hotel, the Phoenician Club, the Paddington RSL, and then a few years later at the Big Day Out. I love, love, love, their stuff. I had been hanging around on the Sydney alternative live scene for a couple of years, so this made a lot of sense to me. Australian alternative had a lot of the elements of grunge (that noisy, punky garage rock thing, leavened with a piss-take attitude), but this was the first American band that I had seen doing what became known as grunge, which was about to take off. Fudge is generally regarded as their best album, and it is pretty damn great. Personally, I would recommend Superfuzz (the CD versions with the extra singles on it for a real taste) but this a terrific album. I love the fuzzy, terrible recording quality, the sloppy playing, the punk energy, the humour, the sense of being out of control. It helped codify my musical taste (and also heavily influenced the terrible band I was in for most of the 90s). Mudhoney were my band. I bought their records, I wore the t-shirts, I saw them live as often as I could. I ended up working at Scratches not long after that, so I had a front row seat for the explosion of grunge in 1991. Oh to be 20 years-old again, working in a little record shop and seeing bands three or four nights a week at a time when there was something so exciting happening in music. While the explosion of underground music into the mainstream was exciting at the time, in the long term it didn't really turn out well for many people (including independent alternative record stores). But that's a story for another day... My infatuation with Mudhoney did influence me in one way that I regret. When Nirvana's Nevermind exploded, I was pretty lukewarm on it. everyone I knew who worked in alternative record stores got thoroughly sick of how overplayed it was. I mean, good record, but it's not Mudhoney now is it? And so I didn't buy tickets to see Nirvana when they played the Phoenician. I really regret that. But I don't regret ever listening to Mudhoney. They are still my band. I really love this record, but is it really a must hear? It is for me, but maybe not for everyone. Four stars

I tried to like it. I really did. And any one of those songs is fine. Good, even. But, man that album felt like a slog to me. There’s just so much of it. And every song is not as [adjective] as [contemporary reference band].

Sounds like 1992 and I love it.

This album has had my dick hanging out the back of it since day one. It still gets me hard, unlike your mum.

I love grunge but Mudhoney is at the crappy end of it imo. Yeah I know they were practically the first grunge band, but they lean too heavily into the alternative art rock DIY garage band stuff where I prefer my grunge to sound like AIC and Soundgarden. I've heard this album a few times, it kinda just exists. It's not horrible, but it's not actually good and I wouldn't listen to it for fun. Seems to be propelled by reputation alone. 2/5.

Some pretty passable Seattle grunge, but someone else did it better

Early influential grunge, but not overly impresive nowadays. Nothing stands out as exceptional or as terrible. A recording of its time

Not being very familiar with the genre, I find it hard to review classic grunge in any other way than through the lens set up by Nirvana. In a direct comparison, Mudhoney lack Nirvana's catchy choruses and Kurt's iconic delivery thereof. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. It has some pretty good hooks and isn't too chaotic and certainly not mindless (my usual complaints regarding grunge and punk-inspired genres in general). The album length was perfect too, as I stayed engaged throughout. Good album.

They get labeled as grunge because they're a Seattle band using heavy distortion in 1991, but there are more punk elements here than anything: an abundance of two-minute songs, shouty repetitive choruses, a lead singer who can't carry a tune, and purposefully mediocre production quality (because using low quality tape totally owned those studios, man). I vacillated between being impressed by the balls on these guys and annoyed by this album's existence, which was probably the point. Best track: Good Enough

Turgid pish

I don't always listen to garage punk and proto grunge but when I do, I'll now make sure it's Mudhoney. Really now. My 5 stars often reflect how much I enjoyed an album within this 1001AYMHBYD challenge and this is the shit. Certainly one of the shits. Also, best harmonica I've heard so far. Looking at you, Bob.

Exceptional Grunge Band Destroys Faces

I'd seen the name of this band before but never listened. I liked it!

Whenever I hear this album I hear the distant thunder of a revolution. This is grunge! Everything else (except for the Melvins) are also rans. Released a full two months ahead of Nevermind this was touted as the album that would break through. But overall it wasn't. Too dirty sounding, having used an 8 track to do the recording, this wasn't a radio friendly album. That is why it is important. As it flew against the expectation and in a way Mudhoney took a step back so they could keep having fun. And that is what it is all about - having fun. I still hate the cover though but treasure my limited pressing on Fudge coloured vinyl

Been meaning to listen to them for years. Scrappy, garage punk version of grunge. Cool guitar shit. I dig it!

A pretty good grunge rock album. Apparently one of the first. Didn't quite have that hopeless edge that grunge excels at

This brand of grunge doesn't do much for me. Most songs just roll into another and you have no clue if three songs have rolled by, five songs have rolled by, or if its just one long song altogether. Still, it's not like BAD music, just not for me and very same-y.

Alright! Woooooh! Yeah man! I love you guys! Excellent! Woooooh!

The grungiest of the major grunge bands. Mudhoney don’t get enough credit for the inventiveness of their sonic textures, which are on full display on this record. And some of the guitar solos are wonderfully demented.

Definitely an evolution on the debut album we had a few weeks ago, (slightly) better put together and a bit more varied. Know who you driving now from an ash cover and I'm sure I recognise fuzz gun 91. Generally thought the album was great, this one sounded even more like lots of later bands. There were a couple of tracks closer to the end that were more average so I'll say 4.5 but definitely listening again.

I had never heard of this album or band before this, but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed listening. Big fan of the guitar work on this record - there's something magical about fuzzy sounding guitars. Lowkey inspiring me to whip out my electric again and mess around with my effect pedals. The guitar is definitely what stood out to me the most and what I enjoyed the most, but I also liked the vocals. Album was chaotic in a way that I thoroughly enjoyed. Might check out more by this band!

Nice grunge album with better vocals than I typically expect from the genre!! 8/10

Very listenable except for one song with snoring sounds in the middle. Sound is more late 90s indie, although can hear more classic early 90s seattle grunge too.

Grunge. No está mal, pero no me ha encantado del todo.

It's not not good, but it's not good, just kinda decently boring

How can something this high energy still be so sleepy and boring? This feels like it should be another album with lots of things about it I would like, but it didn’t appeal to me at all. I don’t remember anything about the album save for one of the songs had harmonica. Really just an uninteresting and forgettable listening experience.

Opening instrumental Generational Genocide sets me up for an off-kilter carnival. Mudhoney sold me the world, inviting me to something truly spectacular and never-before seen. I went along for the ride, had some fun, but left feeling slightly disappointed. Like true carnies.

Nope.

Great

I play trombone, so I tend to operate on the “Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always” side of things. But this was a great adventure up to the top of the staff.

When people talk about grunge, they often talk about heaviness, angst and cultural impact. This album has little interest in any of those things. The surprise is that the engine driving it isn’t really grunge at all. It’s garage rock. Again and again I found myself hearing The Sonics, The Kingsmen, all sorts of Nuggets obscurities, the Stooges and Buzzcocks. The structures are wonderfully primitive: find a riff, find a groove, and trust them. The Seattle contribution is mostly harmonic. Sonics structure, grunge chords. What makes the album special is the confidence of its choices. The tempos breathe. The organs sound cheap in exactly the right way. The harmonica repeatedly appears where a guitar solo might be expected. Every decision feels instinctive and immediate. Not careless decisions - swift ones. The band seem to understand exactly when further refinement would start removing the life from the music. The deeper I got into the record, the more varied it became. One moment there’s a chiming guitar part that opens a window in the middle of all the fuzz. The next there’s the swampy menace of “Into the Drink”, the full-on Sonics assault of “Who You Drivin’ Now?” or the unmistakable Buzzcocks pulse running through “Pokin’ Around”. Every time I thought I had the album pinned down, it revealed another side of itself. What surprised me most was the ending. After forty minutes of movement, humour, momentum and glorious racket, “Check-Out Time” changes the atmosphere completely. The spoken delivery, the euphemistic title and the lyric about an ordinary man listening to the wrong voice reveal a darkness that had largely been hidden until that point. It isn’t dramatic or theatrical. That’s what makes it unsettling. The album spends most of its running time behaving like a gang of garage-rock hooligans before quietly revealing that it has something more serious on its mind. The irony is that this supposedly scruffy 8-track oddity sold in enough numbers to help keep Sub Pop afloat. Listening now, that’s not difficult to understand. Beneath the muck is an excellent set of songs. Mudhoney simply had the confidence to leave the muck where it belonged.

That was the shet

Sonic Youth møder Sex Pistols. Det er beskidt punk med legende, eksperimenterende elementer. Det er den rå lyd af Seattle. Endnu et Grunge mesterværk til samlingen.

2 things. 1) I love Mudhoney 2) Mudhoney is so fun and silly and great and amazing. I heard or read somewhere years ago that Mudhoney is the kind of band that happens when record collecting nerds start a band. It was either Mudhoney or Dinosaur JR, regardless let's for the sake of argument say it is Mudhoney, this time. My favorite song on this album is "Who You Drivin' Now?" To be honest though it's hard to really pick out songs on here that are not amazing. You really get the fuzz sound that they are 'famous' for on this album and "Who You Drivin' Now?"

It's about time. 964 albums in and I finally get a Mudhoney lp. This one's a ripper. Tons of energy and killer fuzz guitar. Dig it. The less commercial side of grunge but a lot more enjoyable in my opinion.

Never properly listened to this album, it's smoking, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Soothing. Reaffirming. Full of love for self and others.

Raw! Rock!

(95/100)

Solid foundational grunge.

Game changing

Early 90s sub-pop was the tits.

Although it's a record that would most certainly appear in my own list of 1,001 greatest albums, it's not a record I expected to see here for some reason. Although they had some of the spotlight in the late 80s and early 90s when they were saddled with the grunge tag, they've always seemed to operate just beneath the surface. It's a shame they're not better known - their brand of raw, garage rock (not grunge - leave that to bloody Pearl bloody Jam) has always cut right to the quick. Mark Arm's distinctive vocals, belting out over those jagged guitars are immediately identifiable. This whole package is great - the title, the artwork, the tunes. And it's got Broken Hands on it - an alt anthem everyone should know, but sadly very few do.

Another one I never listened to in full. Is it possible to make grunge grungier? These guys did that here with a garage aesthetic that really shines through all that fuzz

I completely agree.

I'm trying to put it into context.........coming out of the synth-heavy pop 80s and the hair band rock, this stripped down garage band sound must have sounded absolutely revolutionary. But now......it's......... ok? I hear a little Kurt and Pearl Jam in it (osmosis by association?). I wish they dug a little deeper, got a little weirder.

This album makes we want to go camping and run naked in a cornfield. Fun times.

Esse álbum é muito divertido de ouvir. Mudhoney em grande forma. Como é um álbum que já escutei muito decidi fazer uma audição com um fone não óbvio para ele. Foi uma experiência bem legal, como assisti Mudhoney em uma casa pequena e sufocante. QKZxHBB Hades.

Better than Coldplay

I really enjoyed this. Good, fun, REAL music.

Love this album, what a band. It has everything going on right from the iconic artwork, a great set of songs which really capture the energy and excitement of Mudhoney at their best.

Nice. Quite grungy. I really enjoyed Something So Clear, and Broken Hands. Fuzz Gun '91 surprised me too. This was my introduction to Mudhoney. I will likely listen to more.

Wild, unhinged, guttural and completely absorbing.

To the "I just prefer Nirvana and Pearl Jam" crowd: YOURE POSERS!!!! This is real grunge, raw, unfiltered and artistic.

Biased since I went to a concert of them recently. Singer still has a great voice after all these years. One of my favorite grunge albums, the playing is superb and the songs are all really active and hyped. Gotta compensate for the low score this has as well.

MUDHONEY LFG!!! Not my favorite Mudhoney album but still full of bangers and solid front to back. Maybe the most underrated of all the grunge bands but I can see why they wouldn’t have been one of ones to fully break out. This album rules.

yes

Real grunge for real people.

Some of the best out of the Grunge movement. Perfect, tight, dissonant, clever album. More, plz.

Awesome grunge with personality.

started a reluctant wednesday with this and really enjoyed it. hell yes to never being too professional

neat punk with some great variation. saved.

Yeah this is still a near-perfect grunge record with fast, catchy songs all over - had not listened to Mudhoney for many years and thought the album may have that outdated grunge sound, but it still sounded fresh, and I like it very much.

sehr gut

Loved the metal grunge vibe!

Something new, surprised I hadn’t heard of them before

Very important album in my teenage years. Incredible!

Punchy. I want some fudge now.

A little dark and gloomy, but good bit of energy and chaos in this. It's dirty, gritty, drone-y and perfect. Listened to this nonstop for about two hours before settling on a five. Would def. listen to this againif I didn't have such a mountain of unfinished reviews to write.

HELL YEAH GRUNGE LET'S GOOOOOOOOO

Such a good album, easy 5 star

Ooh, this was a very good grunge and punk album, which I'd never heard before. All these tracks were amazing in my opinion, and I have to admit I was kinda into the harmonica in one or two of these tracks. Favourite: Move Out

I recall being sniffy about this album at the time, it didn't seem to have the youthful swagger & snarl of earlier releases. Listening to it now ... sounds amazing!

Okay, this isn’t universal, but it’s a classic to me (even if you never heard it, you heard Nirvana and Pearl Jam after Mudhoney’s influence).

This is like if In the Aeroplane over the sea was a punk album. Maybe that comparison is stupid but it makes sense to me at this particular moment in time. Either way, this is quite good for my punk-loving soul, unlike anything I've ever heard.

Really good grunge album! Hadn't heard of these guys before. A couple really cool tracks. Highly recommend.

okay

amazing

Now that's more like it

One of my favorite bands... hell, at times they are my absolute favorite. Great band to see live. This is a classic in my book, just got the 30th anniversary version of this on vinyl. Glad to see it here on the list. These guys are still cranking out great stuff. I'd argue their last 3 records (The Lucky Ones, Vanishing Point, Digital Garbage) are as good as (and maybe better than) anything they've ever put out. Check them out too.

I have loved this album since it came out!

yaaas lawd, YES!

A pleasant surprise, gritty boisterous fun.

A hidden gem of grunge.

This is a nice hidden gem of the early grunge era. I've been sleeping on these guys.

Each song terminates in grungy energetic fun. That’s what I’ll remember most about this album, but Mudhoney deserves their place on this list for sure. Nirvana probably owes them royalties.

Another solid entry from Mudhoney, but for different reasons. Their first album felt way more prescient in terms of the development of Grunge, but here they opt for a more grungier follow-up rather than a commercial step forward. It doesn’t really play it this way, but it seems they remained a little more true to the process and purpose than their successful peers (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, etc.) and as a result, they still feel fresh and new on this album.

Fun fuckin grunge record. Should listen more

I know Mudhoney are a grunge staple, and as a teen who cut his teeth on grunge-era music I was always vaguely aware of them, but never really got into them. Thus my expectations were kinda low heading into this one, and call me pleasantly surprised with this. Way more nuanced and musical than I was expecting to find (I mean, the album name alone provides some indication that there's actual "musical" music therein). Embarrassed to not have given this one a shot, and glad to finally come around. Good stuff.

Was a bit indifferent towards this early, yet undeniably influential grunge group back when I first heard them with 'Super fuzz'. Haven't revisited it much, but I think I failed to notice just HOW ahead of its time that EP was. But, while 'Superfuzz' was released well before the Nirvana (and Grunge) explosion, this album was released around the same time as the album 'Nevermind'. It's certainly a more fragmented album when compared to that early EP and many of their contemporaries, opting to explore a vast range of ideas and instrumental pallets rather than stick to one homogenous sound and fleshing it out, not unlike the Pixies, for example. I did find myself enjoying this album way more than that early EP, though. The drumming here remains a standout; it's sort of unorthodox, kind of hypnotic, and a bit tribal feeling, but can easily switch to that familiar punk/garage style at the drop of a dime, like on 'Shoot The Moon'. The guitar work is varied enough to keep me interested, especially on a song like 'Good Enough,' which has maybe the most memorable riff here. And if there's one thing Mudhoney didn't abandon, it's their unrelenting '80s punk energy - just listen to songs like 'Thorn', 'Into The Drink', and especially the organ-driven 'Who You Drivin' Now?'. Oddly enough, the instrumental 'Fuzz Gun '91' really stuck with me as well; it had this early '70s proto-punk vibe that I really dug. Overall, though, the undeniable highlight was this album's centerpiece, 'Broken Hands', just the way the song shifts and grows, and hypnotizes over its 6-minute trudge through this tragic heartbreak, painted with imagery that's so potent and ugly. And that closing solo absolutely kills, might be the best thing I've heard by these guys yet. While nowhere near as catchy or even memorable as many of their contemporaries, especially the Big Nirvana, I did find myself enjoying pretty much every moment here. The at times non-cohesive and messy presentation, the experimental punk energy, and off-kilter fusions... I'm not sure if Mudhoney were always like this, or if they were trying to set themselves apart from the scene they so obviously helped bring to the mainstream. Either way, a damn good record with an infectious energy.

Some classic grunge.

interesting and rough sounding. Weird in a good way. I liked it.

Ret godt. Lidt lo-fi og stenet til tider men på en ret groovy og chatchy måde.

Not a bad listen. Had my head bobbin a few times. Classic 90s sound.

every good girl (daphne) too

I saw Mudhoney once, opening for Pearl Jam the day we first heard the news about Kurt Cobain. The weeks before, I was listening to the Five Dollar EP on repeat, still along with Pieces of Cake, my favorite of theirs. It's certainly dated but still fun.

Never heard of Mudhoney, only the big grunge bands. Nice to hear another one. Cool punky rock, jammin stuff. Love the harmonica!

I prefer their album Superfuzz Bigmuff for the obvious reason, but I was a grunge kid of the early 90s who found the alternative sound from genres like Punk, Grunge, Shoegaze, etc... very appealing as it was so different from the mainstream music of the 80s. These guys are a prime example of the Seattle grunge scene and i like it. Thorn is good song, too bad the album started off bad, 4 stars.

This is a fun and noisy album. Mixing on it is kind of weird; looks like it was all done with a cheap tape 8-track. But overall, a fun album I would definitely listen to again. 4/5