Mudhoney… those guys were one of the bands that really started it all for me.
I first heard them around ’89 or ’90 when someone played me “Touch Me I’m Sick.” It sounded like they didn’t care about sounding perfect, and that was exactly the point. They felt like the real Seattle sound before everything got big and the cameras started showing up.
I got to see them live on May 15th, 1993 at that Grunge Fest thing out in Longview, at the Cowlitz County Event Center. It was a weird outdoor setup, kind of in the middle of nowhere, but the energy was great. They played a bunch of their early stuff — “Touch Me I’m Sick,” “Here Comes Sickness,” “You Got It,” all the old favorites. The crowd was going nuts and the band looked like they were having the time of their lives. It was one of those days where you could tell they were just happy to be playing with their friends.
They never got as huge as some of the other bands, and I think they were okay with that. While everyone else was chasing the big time, Mudhoney stayed sarcastic and true to their own thing. They were always the band that reminded you where it all really started — in those small clubs with cheap beer and no expectations.
These days in 2002 they’re still at it. They just put out a new record last year called Since We’ve Become Translucent and it still sounds like Mudhoney. That’s what I love about them. They never tried to be something they weren’t.
I still throw on Superfuzz Bigmuff or Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge when I want to remember the early days, before everything got complicated. Some bands just feel like home, you know? And Mudhoney… they’ve always felt like home to me.