Mudhoney have just announced a 15-date 2020 tour, in support of their Morning In America EP, which is available now worldwide from Sub Pop. The dates begin April 30th in Vancouver, BC at the Imperial and end May 16th in Seattle, WA at the Crocodile. Along the way, the band will co-headline a string of shows with Meat Puppets (May 7th-13th).
Apr. 30 - Vancouver, BC - The Imperial + May 01 - Victoria, BC - Capital Ballroom + May 02 - Bellingham, WA - The Wild Buffalo + May 03 - Olympia, WA - Capitol Theater + May 05 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow’s May 06 - Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door May 07 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore * May 08 - Los Angeles - CA - El Rey Theatre * May 09 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole * May 10 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf * May 12 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall * May 13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Commonwealth Room * May 14 - Boise, ID - Neurolux May 15 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom # May 16 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile + ^
* w/ Meat Puppets + w/ The Tripwires ^ w/ Thee Deception # w/ Minus Five
Mudhoney’s Morning in America is a new 7-song EP of tracks recorded during the sessions for Digital Garbage, their acclaimed album of 2018 (“…an astute, politically relevant and commendably fired-up garage punk belter of an LP,” – The Quietus). The tracks include “Let’s Kill Yourself Live Again” (an alternate version of the Digital Garbage stand-out “Kill Yourself Live,” and the bonus track for the Japanese CD version of that album), “One Bad Actor” (a new version of Mudhoney’s track on the limited-edition, and now very sold-out, SPF30 split 7” single w Hot Snakes), album outtakes “Snake Oil Charmer,” “Morning in America” and “Creeps Are Everywhere,” plus “Ensam I Natt” (“So Lonely Tonight,” a Leather Nun cover) and “Vortex of Lies” from a very limited, European tour 7”.
Morning in America has been released on 12” vinyl and through digital services, and is available from the Sub Pop Mega Mart now. The limited Loser Edition is on white vinyl marbled with black is available from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK and Europe (the Loser Ed is silver vinyl in the UK/EU), while supplies last.
“Yeah, the world sucks. But 30 years in, Mudhoney does not.” [Digital Garbage] - Seattle Times
“They simply sound like a better, defter, maybe even snottier version of their younger selves on their 10th album.” [Digital Garbage] - Rolling Stone
“The Seattle scuzz-punk pioneers deliver a grave diagnosis of a festering societal condition.” [Digital Garbage] - Pitchfork
Today, Sep 20th, Sub Pop Records is releasing Morning in America, a new 7-song EP of tracks recorded during the sessions for Mudhoney’s 2018 album,Digital Garbage (“…an astute, politically relevant and commendably fired-up garage punk belter of an LP,” – The Quietus). The tracks include “Let’s Kill Yourself Live Again” (an alternate version of the Digital Garbage stand-out “Kill Yourself Live,” and the bonus track for the Japanese CD version of that album), “One Bad Actor” (a new version of Mudhoney’s track on the limited-edition, and now very sold-out, SPF30 split 7” single w Hot Snakes), album outtakes “Snake Oil Charmer,” “Morning in America” and “Creeps Are Everywhere,” plus “Ensam I Natt” (“So Lonely Tonight,” a Leather Nun cover) and “Vortex of Lies” from a very limited EU tour 7”.
The songs were mixed at Johnny Sangster’s studio Crackle & Pop! The release of this EP coincides with Mudhoney’s fall 2019 US tour which finds the band playing the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, CA, and then Boston, Philadelphia, Durham, Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and several other cities, ending on Oct 19th in Brooklyn, NY. See below for a full list of dates and supporting artists.
Morning in America will only be available on 12” vinyl and through digital services. This new Mudhoney EP is available from Sub Pop starting now. And, the limited Loser Edition of Morning in America, on white vinyl marbled with black in the US and Silver in (UK/EU), is available from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK, and Europe, while supplies last.
Morning in America Tracklisting
1.Vortex of Lies 2. Creeps Are Everywhere 3. Ensam I Natt 4. Morning in America 5. Let’s Kill Yourself Live Again 6. Snake Oil Charmer 7. One Bad Actor
[Photo Credit: Niffer Calderwood]
Mudhoney will be touring the US following the release of this EP: Sept. 28 - Dana Point, CA - Ohana Festival Oct. 04 - Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall @ Oct. 05 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall * Oct. 06 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer * Oct. 07 - Richmond, Virginia - The Broadberry * Oct. 08 - Pinhook, Durham - NC * Oct. 09 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West * Oct. 10 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall * Oct. 11 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn # Oct. 12 - Nashville, TN - Basement East $ Oct. 14 - St Louis, MO - Off Broadway % Oct. 15 - Detroit, MI - El Club % Oct. 16 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop % Oct. 17 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls % Oct. 18 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage % Oct. 19 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel % Nov. 16 - Yakima, WA - Seasons Performance Hall
@ w/ Shut Up * w/ Pissed Jeans # w/ Pissed Jeans, Kings of the Fucking Sea $ w/ Porcupine & Kings of the Fucking Sea % w/ Kid Congo Power + the Pink Monkey Birds
In a wildly entertaining interview, filled with exciting Marc-on-Mark action, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm appeared on WTF with Marc Maron on Thursday, April 18th, 2019 (aka TODAY!). You can (and should) listen here.
Plus, REJOICE, for there are many upcoming Mudhoney shows in North America throughout the remainder of the year!
May 04 - Seattle, WA - KEXP Gathering Space (Sonic Reducer’s 15th Anniversary Celebration) @ May 10 - Walla Walla, WA - The Dacres # May 11 - Spokane, WA - Lucky You Lounge # May 24 - Green Bay, WI - Green Bay Distillery May 25 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe * May 26 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall (SOLD OUT) ? Jun. 14 - Tacoma, WA - The Elks Temple & Jun. 15 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom Sep. 27 - Dana Point, CA - Ohana Festival Sep. 28 - Dana Point, CA - Ohana Festival Sep. 29 - Dana Point, CA - Ohana Festival Oct. 04 - Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall ^ Oct. 05 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall % Oct. 06 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer % Oct. 07 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry % Oct. 08 - Durham, NC - The Pinhook % Oct. 09 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West % Oct. 10 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall % Oct. 11 - Knoxville, TN - The Concourse $ Oct.12 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East $ Oct.14 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway ! Oct.15 - Detroit, MI - El Club ! Oct.16 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop ! Oct.17 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls ! Oct.18 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage ! Oct.19 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel !
@ w/ Control Test, Dark Smith # w/ The Derelicts * w/ METZ and Black-Eyed Snakes ? w/ METZ & w/ The Fucking Eagles, The Drove ^ w/ Shut Up % w/ Pissed Jeans $ w/ Pissed Jeans, Kings of the Fucking Sea ! w/ Kid Congo Powers + the Pink Monkey Birds
What people are saying about Mudhoney’s Digital Garbage: “Cometh the hour, cometh the band”- MOJO
“With Digital Garbage, Mudhoney have provided the noise-escape of the year. The war may never be won, but at least now we’ve got somewhere to hide when it all gets a bit much.” - Drowned in Sound
“The Seattle scuzz-punk pioneers deliver a grave diagnosis of a festering societal condition.” Pitchfork
“…raw and irreverent as ever.”- Uncut
“They simply sound like a better, defter, maybe even snottier version of their younger selves on their 10th album.”- Rolling Stone
Listen to tracks “This Town” (from Dry As a Bone) and “Forever Means” (from Rehab Doll).
Sub Pop will release Green River’s Dry As a Bone EP, and their final offering the Rehab Doll LP, as expanded and remastered deluxe editions on CD/2xLP/DL worldwide January 25th, 2019. Jack Endino served as the executive producer for the project excavating & restoring tapes, mixing, remixing & mastering both packages.
Rolling Stone had this to say of Rehab Doll: “Proto-grunge at its best, its mud-dipped tracks breaking down and building themselves back up in real time. Frontman Mark Arm (later of Mudhoney) sounds like he gargled with lye before cutting tracks like the boogie-gone-bad “Together We’ll Never,” while the band’s rip-roaring cover of David Bowie’s “Queen Bitch” (originally only available on the album’s cassette release) hints at the wry humor that would animate much of the Seattle scene’s best moments.” And Magnet Magazine offers this, “Not only did Green River exemplify the collision of punk, metal and classic rock that became the early Seattle sound’s calling card, it eventually spawned some of the most recognizable faces of the grunge era....Green River sound is exactly what you would expect, with the tension of competing styles (Arm’s unhinged, punk-rock shriek vs. Gossard and Ament’s bluesy metal wanking) forming a singular, if combustible, mix....The impact is something akin to a beer bottle to the head, and it still reverberates 20 years later.”
LP preorders of each album through Sub Pop Mega Mart and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser editions of Dry As a Bone on forest green vinyl and Rehab Doll on opaque lime green vinyl (while supplies last).
About Green River’s Dry As a Bone and Rehab Doll:
The story of Seattle’s rise to global rock supremacy in the late ’80s and early ’90s begins with Green River. Made up of Jeff Ament (bass), Mark Arm (guitar/vocals), Bruce Fairweather (guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar), and Alex Shumway (drums), the quintet put out three 12”s and a 7” single during its brief existence. But Green River’s influence on Seattle’s music scene spread far and wide—thanks to the members’ dispersion into bands including Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Love Battery, as well as the punk-glam-sludge-rock songs they left behind.
“By ‘83, ‘84, there was definitely a movement that was happening within hardcore, like Black Flag slowing down for My War,” says Arm. “The Replacements and Butthole Surfers were rearing their heads, and they’re very different bands, but they’re not hardcore—the Replacements are pretty much straight-up rock, and Butthole Surfers were God knows what. Sonic Youth’s Bad Moon Risingwas around, and a lot of really interesting post-hardcore things were happening, Big Black, Scratch Acid.”
Green River, which formed in 1984, was part of that evolution, with a sound that straddled a lot of different genres—blues, punk, boozy straight-ahead rock. The mini-LP Dry As A Bone, which came out in 1987, and the LP Rehab Doll, which came out in 1988, were released as a single CD with a few bonus cuts, including their sneering cover of David Bowie’s “Queen Bitch” and their marauding version of Dead Boys’ “Ain’t Nothin’ to Do,” in 1990—but they’ve been unavailable on vinyl for years. Now, these slices of Seattle music history are not only back in print, they’re accompanied by items from the from the vaults that had been forgotten about for decades.
Dry As A Bone, originally released as a mini-LP, was recorded at Jack Endino’s Reciprocal Recording in 1986, and it shows the band in furious form, with Arm’s yowl battling Fairweather and Gossard’s ferocious guitar playing on “This Town” and “Unwind” opening as a slow bluesy grind then jump-starting itself into a hyperactive chase. The deluxe edition includes Green River’s cuts from the crucial Seattle-scene compilation Deep Six, as well as long-lost songs that were recorded to the now-archaic format Betamax. “Jack actually got his hands on one of those old players and was able to revive and mix them,” says Arm.
Dry As a Bone Tracklisting 1. This Town 2. PCC 3. Ozzie 4. One More Stitch * 5. Unwind 6. Baby Takes 7. Searchin’ # 8. Hangin’ Tree * 9. Together We’ll Never @ 10. Ain’t Nothin’ To Do @ 11. Bleeding Sheep * 12. Bazaar $ 13. Thrown Up * 14. This Little Boy * 15. 10000 Things ^ 16. Your Own Best Friend ^
* = Previously unreleased # = Previously released onDry As a Bone / Rehab DollCD (Sub Pop) @ = Previously released as a 7” (Tasque Force Records) $ = Previously released onAnother Pyrrhic Victory compilation (C/Z Records) ^ = Previously released onDeep Six compilation (C/Z Records)
Rehab Doll was released around the time the band split up in 1988. The album, recorded largely at Seattle’s Steve Lawson Studios, bridges the gap between the taut, punky energy of Dry As a Bone and the bigger drums and thicker riffs that were coming to dominate rock in the late ’80s. “None of us had been in a 24-track studio at that point,” says Arm. “There were a lot of weird things that we did in the recording of Rehab Doll that we had never done in any other studio. I remember doing the vocals for ‘One More Stitch’ underneath a piano that had its strings mic’d—so I was singing and that was being recorded, but the reverberation from the strings was being recorded at the same time.”
Rehab Doll includes the menacing “Forever Means,” which front-loads Arm’s yelp amidst waterspouts of guitar and a swaggering rhythm section, the cavernous “One More Stitch,” and “Swallow My Pride,” which would go on to be covered by fellow Sub Pop outfits Soundgarden and The Fastbacks. This new edition of Rehab Doll includes a remixed version of the album + 8 songs recorded to 8-track at Endino’s Reciprocal Recording, which features a more accurate depiction of how the band sounded when they played live. (“We generally didn’t have a gated snare sound,” notes Arm.) “When I listen to these mixes, I think, ‘This is how we actually sounded—this is the kind of energy we had,’” says Shumway. “It’s much more raw, and it’s much more real.”
Rehab Doll Tracklisting 1. Forever Means 2. Rehab Doll 3. Swallow My Pride 4. Together We’ll Never 5. Smilin’ and Dyin’ 6. Porkfist 7. Take a Dive 8. One More Stitch 9. 10000 Things * 10. Hangin’ Tree * 11. Rehab Doll * ^ 12. Swallow My Pride # ^ 13. Together We’ll Never * ^ 14. Smilin’ and Dyin’ * ^ 15. Porkfist * ^ 16. Take a Dive * ^ 17. Somebody * ^ 18. Queen Bitch * ^
* = Previously unreleased ^ = Reciprocal 8-track versions $ = Previously released on the Hype! Soundtrack (Sub Pop) # = Previously released on the Dry As A Bone / Rehab Doll CD (Sub Pop)
[Photo Credit: Charles Peterson]
Green River’s place in American music history is without question, but these recordings paint a more complete picture of the band—and of rock in the mid- to late-’80s when punk’s faster-and-louder ideals had begun shape-shifting into other ideas.
Digital Garbage will be available worldwide September 28th, 2018 on Sub Pop.
On September 28th, the beloved, PNW rock and roll institution Mudhoney will release Digital Garbage, the 10th album from the band in 30 years, a barbed-wire-trimmed collection of sonic brickbats. You can listen to the new album’s premiere offering, “Paranoid Core” by clicking that play button up there.
Digital Garbage Tracklisting 1. Nerve Attack 2. Paranoid Core 3. Please Mr. Gunman 4. Kill Yourself Live 5. Night and Fog 6. 21st Century Pharisees 7. Hey Neanderfuck 8. Prosperity Gospel 9. Messiah’s Lament 10. Next Mass Extinction 11. Oh Yeah
[Photo Credit: Emily Reiman]
Since the late ’80s, Mudhoney – the Seattle-based foursome whose muck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and battened down by a ferocious low end – has been a high-pH tonic against the ludicrous and the insipid.
Thirty years later, the world is experiencing a particularly high-water moment for both those ideals. But just in time, vocalist Mark Arm, guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters are back with Digital Garbage, a barbed-wire-trimmed collection of sonic brickbats. Arm’s raw yawp and his bandmates’ long-honed chemistry make Digital Garbage an ideal release valve for the 2018 pressure cooker, its insistent rhythms forcing movement and Arm’s sardonic lyrics offering a funhouse-mirror companion to the ever-more-ridiculous news cycle. “My sense of humor is dark, and these are dark times,” says Arm. “I suppose it’s only getting darker.”
Digital Garbage opens with the swaggering “Nerve Attack,” which can be heard as a nod both to modern-life anxiety and the ever-increasing threat of warfare. The album’s title comes from the outro of “Kill Yourself Live,” which segues from a revved-up Arm organ solo into a bleak look at the way notoriety goes viral. “I’m not on social media, so my experience is somewhat limited,” says Arm. “But people really seem to find validation in the likes—and then there’s Facebook Live, where people have streamed torture and murder, or, in the case of Philando Castile, getting murdered by a cop.”
“In the course of writing that song,” he adds, “I thought about how, once you put something out there online, you can’t wipe it away. It’s always going to be there—even if no one digs it up, it’s still out there floating somewhere.”
Appropriately enough, bits of recent news events float through the record—”Please Mr. Gunman,” on which Arm bellows “We’d rather die in church!” over his bandmates’ careening charge, was inspired by a TV-news bubblehead’s response to a 2017 church shooting, while the ominous refrain that opens the submerged-blues of “Next Mass Extinction” calls back to last summer’s clashes in Charlottesville, although Arm’s brutal delivery helps twist it into an indictment. Arm also went back to the pre-Mudhoney era for the titular insult of the stinging “Hey Neanderfuck.” ”National Lampoonmade several comedy records in the 70s, and in one skit someone gets called a ‘Neanderfuck,’” Arm laughs. “I’ve always loved that insult and wondered why it never became a part of the American lexicon—it’s so brutal. It was high time to use that.”
Mudhoney’s core sound—steadily pounding drums, swamp-thing bass, squalling guitar wobble, Arm’s hazardous-chemical voice—remains on Digital Garbage, which the band recorded with longtime collaborator (and Digital Garbage pianist) Johnny Sangster at the Seattle studio Litho. The anti-religiosity shimmy “21st Century Pharisees” builds its case with Maddison’s woozy synths. “It adds a really nice touch to the proceedings,” Arm says of Maddison’s synth parts. “And Guy has really learned his way around his machines playing in a synth trio the past few years.”
The shuffling “Messiah’s Lament” is the band’s first song in 6/8—and it’s told from the point of view of a world-weary Jesus. And Digital Garbage closes with “Oh Yeah,” a brief celebration of skateboarding, surfing, biking, and the joy provided by these escape valves. “I would’ve really just loved to write songs about just hanging out on the beach, and going on a nice vacation,” says Arm. “But, you know, that probably doesn’t make for great rock.”
Mudhoney, however, know what does make great rock—and the riffs and fury of Digital Garbage will stand the test of time, even if the particulars fade away. “I’ve tried to keep things somewhat universal, so that this album doesn’t just seem like of this time—hopefully some of this stuff will go away,” Arm laughs. “You don’t want to say in the future, ‘Hey, those lyrics are still relevant. Great!’”
Mudhoney Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Mudhoney will embark on a world tour beginning on Aug. 11th at SPF30, Sub Pop’s FREE 30th Anniversary Festival and Party at Alki Beach in West Seattle. They will then play a string of dates in the Pacific Northwest starting Sep. 15th in Vancouver, with shows in Portland and Seattle before heading to Europe on Nov. 11th.
Tour Dates: Aug. 11 - Seattle, WA - SPF30 (Sub Pop’s FREE 30th Anniversary Festival and Party at Alki Beach! From noon to 10pm.) Sep. 15 - Vancouver, Canada - Rickshaw Theater (Westward Music Festival) Sep. 28 - Portland, OR - Dante’s @ Sep. 29 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre % Oct. 13 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw ^ Nov. 11 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who Festival Nov. 12 - Groningen, NL - Vera * Nov. 13 - Berlin, DE- Festaal Kreuzberg & Nov. 14 - Hamburg, DE - Fabrik & Nov. 15 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9 & Nov. 16 - Luzern, SZ - Schuur & Nov. 17 - Vevey, SZ - Rocking Chair & Nov. 19 - Frankfurt, GE - Zoom Club & Nov. 20 - Munchen, GE - Strom & Nov. 21 - Bologna, IT - Locomotiv & Nov. 22 - Roma, IT - Largo (IT) & Nov. 23 - Milan, IT - Santeria Social Club & Nov. 24 - Zagreb, HR - Mochvara & Nov. 25 - Vienna , AT - Arena Big Hall * Nov. 27 - Paris, FR - Le Trabendo & Nov. 28 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 # Nov. 29 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom # Nov. 30 - Leeds, UK - Leeds Beckett University ! Dec. 1St - Glasgow, UK - Lukes Church !
@ The Scientists and Eat Skull % The Scientists and Tom Price Desert Classic ^ Pissed Jeans and Art Gray Noizz Quintet * w/Zeke and Please the Trees & Please the Trees # Masonics and Thee Hypnotics ! Wildebeests and Thee Hypnotics
