Vanishing Point
Five years after its previous studio album, Mudhoney comes back fully charged with the kind of Iggy Pop–influenced garage punk that made it one of the most important bands to come out of Seattle in the late \'80s. It\'s often forgotten in the whirlwind of history that Mudhoney—not Nirvana or Soundgarden—was considered the hottest ticket from the Pacific Northwest. Yet the band\'s insistence on sticking to grating fuzz tones and bypassing sleek, modern album production almost guaranteed it\'d be a cult band until the end. It also hinted that Mudhoney would still be singing and playing with the same intensity 25 years later. *Vanishing Point* is one of Mudhoney\'s strongest albums. Vocalist Mark Arm is thoroughly focused and tossing off witticisms like \"\'Scuse me while I fill the shopping cart\" with the same snarling brattiness he brought to \"Touch Me, I\'m Sick.\" The sound is dry and sharp and emphasizes the combustible rhythm section and the loopy, tortured guitar solos. \"The Final Course,\" \"I Don\'t Remember You,\" and \"Douchebags on Parade\" are what punks call heartfelt.
25 years in, Vanishing Point decisively affirms that, even in an age where only the newest of the new can survive (and even then, only for a few weeks at best), Mudhoney still have plenty to say and more to offer. These are songs written from the rare vantage point of a band who went through the rock ‘n’ roll meat-grinder and not only lived to tell such a tale, they came out full of the wisdom and dark humor such a journey provides. Vanishing Point is filled with dread, psychoanalysis and Nuggets-on-fire riffs; the sort of real, uninhibited rock music that is harder and harder to locate these days. With Vanishing Point, Mudhoney make it easy.
Vanishing Point is the first Mudhoney album in five years, and Steve Turner's erratic soloing, Dan Peters' hyperactive drum fills, and Mark Arm's righteous middle-aged rancor are so defiantly Mudhoney-sounding that they justify the price of admission.
Mudhoney’s ninth album is named Vanishing Point, and its opening song is called “Slipping Away.” For any other band, those titles might not bode well. Rather than reporting its own demise, Mudhoney remains the cockroach of grunge, hiding in the walls and coming out to scavenge for scraps under cover of night. The…
A return to form of sorts, picking up right where 2008’s The Lucky Ones left off, Vanishing Point is - undoubtedly - a Mudhoney record.
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