Review: Mudhoney – “Morning In America” EP

The Mudhoney of Digital Garbage, a ferocious and oddly chiseled kind of beast, returns on a new odds-and-ends EP that reflects on the narratives of the band’s previous work. The aptly titled Morning In America EP might reference Reagan, but this seven-track outing, available via Sub Pop this Friday, is firmly rooted in Trump’s America, with wails of “creeps are everywhere,” and, tacitly, “America/ hates itself/ America/ thinks it’s someplace else” punctuating a fairly divisive and desperate landscape. Musically, the group is in top form, with special nods to Dan Peters (solid rhythms on “Ensam I Natt,” a Leather Nun cover) and Steve Turner (incredible blues-skronk lead guitar burn through closer “One Bad Actor”). The track “Let’s Kill Yourself Live Again,” an alt take on Digital Garbage’s “Kill Yourself Live,” is interesting but disposable – but the dirgy opener, “Vortex of Lies,” off an EU tour single, more than makes up for it. An interesting between-LPs affair worth the download or, for completists, worth the vinyl. – Justin Vellucci, Swordfish, Sept. 18, 2019

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About the author

Justin Vellucci is a staff writer for PopMatters, Spectrum Culture, and MusicTAP, a contributor to Pittsburgh Current, and a former staffer for Popdose, Punk Planet and Delusions of Adequacy. His music writing has appeared in national magazines such as American Songwriter, alt-pubs like The Brooklyn Rail, Pittsburgh CityPaper and San Diego CityBeat, blogs Swordfish, Punksburgh and Linoleum, and the Gannett magazine Jetty. He lives in Pittsburgh.