Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge: An Interview With Mark Arm & Steve Turner & Show # 897

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is the second full-length album from Seattle’s Mudhoney. Released on July 26th, 1991, the album shipped 50,000 copies when it was originally released. Just a few months later, Nirvana’s Nevermind would be released and the whole musical landscape would change. Prior to being recorded, Mudhoney recorded five tracks with producer Jack Endino (who also produced their Superfuzz Bigmuff EP and the Mudhoney album) in a 24-track studio. Unhappy with the results, guitarist Steve Turner pushed for a change of direction. Liking the results of Conrad Uno’s 8-track recording studio called Egg Studios on the Thrillsphere album by Tacoma, Washington’s Girl Trouble, the band decided to record a selection of punk covers with Uno to see what it would sound like recording there. Several of these songs came out on singles or on compilation albums, but not all of them. In spring of 1991, Mudhoney began recording Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.

“Generation Genocide” starts off EGBDF with moody Farfisa organ, fuzzy guitar riffs, fluid basslines and energetic drums that intensify as the track comes to its chaotic close. “Let It Slide” fades in with drumrolls, guitar and bass slides, as Mark Arm sings “They can make it sound so nice/Everybody’s got a price,” in what was the album’s first single. In these opening two tracks, Uno’s production and Mudhoney’s dynamics show a reflection of their new influences, most notably 60s garage and a snotty 80s punk energy. Still keeping the urgency and Arm’s potent lyrics, this track shows a sparser sound, not sounding so much like a traditional 90s recording, but more like a classic recording from the 60s. “Good Enough” brings some acoustic guitar into Mudhoney’s songwriting dynamics. With an infectious collection of drums, bass, guitar and maracas, vocalist Mark Arm sings in an earnest and direct tone. With lyrics such as “I've made mistakes/That I'm sure I'll make again” and “Everybody says/You must have lost your head/Well, one more time is good enough for me,” Mudhoney and co. embrace imperfections while balancing it with an honesty and growth in their songwriting abilities at the same time.

“Something So Clear” juxtaposes fuzzy and energetic rhythms with melancholic lyrics ”Should’ve seen it coming/Like a bird at a window,” and other lines such as “There's a certain comfort in being confused,” this track along with the track before it shows a different side of Mudhoney. “Thorn” leans to the influence of 80s punk with corrosive lyrics, with pummeling drums “Into The Drink” attacks with a fuzzy guitar, bass and acoustic guitar dynamic. The catchy garage punk chorus of “Into the drink” about a seemingly lethal relationship make this another standout on EGBDF. “Broken Hands” reflects a Neil Young influence as it clocks in at just over six minutes. As the song treads along it builds toward an anarchic coda of noise. “Who You Drivin’ Now” is another Mudhoney fuzzy garage punk track. With its heavy guitar, organ and bass riffs that lock in creating a retro vibe, Peters’ drumming keeps the song propelling on all cylinders. “Shoot The Moon” jumps into a punk direction with psychedelic reverb laden vocals as Arm wails words such as “Looking for a life in the back of your mind/Looking so hard, you're going blind/Swear you tasted it, down the sun/Sooner or later, darkness will come” that seems to tackle a complex range of topics such as ambition, ego and trying too hard. “Fuzzgun 91” provides a brief instrumental interlude before “Pokin’ Around” begins. This more psychedelic and mid-tempo track features harmonica and great candid, yet satirical lyrics such as “You used to miss him/Now you're so turned on" and “Pokin' around/Gotten out of hand/I feel for you.” “Don’t Fade IV” brings garage meets Black Sabbath riffs with guitar slides as existential lyrics deal with monotony, while “Check-Out Time” ends EGBDF with a brooding, thought provoking intensity.

Throughout Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, Mudhoney switches their focus embracing 60s garage influences such as The Sonics, Lollipop Shoppe, Neil Young, Spacemen 3, post hardcore, 80s hardcore and the sounds of bands such as Zounds and Hawkwind. With a 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition that was released on Sub Pop in July 2021, the album has been expanded with 15 additional tracks which includes singles, compilation tracks, outtakes and the original five 24-track demos. Generally considered to be their best album, Mudhoney stripped down their sound with Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. These fourteen tracks expand their sound and melodies while still attacking with an undeniable gut feeling.  

Listen to an interview that Revolution Rock did with Mark Arm & Steve Turner of Mudhoney:

Show 897 (Originally Aired On August 28th, 2021)(Mark Arm & Steve Turner Interview):

1.  Ty Segall - Rider
2.  Parquet Courts - Walking at a Downtown Pace 
3.  The Spits - Breakdown
4.  Mudhoney - Into The Drink 
5.  Mudhoney - Who You Drivin' Now? 
6.  Mudhoney - Paperback Life (Alternate Version) 

MUDHONEY INTERVIEW PART ONE

7.  Mudhoney - Something So Clear (24-Track Demo) 
8.  Mudhoney - Fuzzbuster 

MUDHONEY INTERVIEW PART TWO

9.  Mudhoney - Thorn 
10. Mudhoney - Good Enough 
11. Mudhoney - Move Out 
12. The Wipers - Taking Too Long 
13. Tunic - Fake Interest
14. Shearing Pinx - Called By The Wrong Name 
15. Blessed - Thought

16. The Effens - Venom Denim 
17. Golden Cinema - Little Sunscreen 
18. Spread Joy - Unoriginal 
19. The Gruesomes - Bikers From Hell 
20. Kitten Spitt - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker 
21. TV Freaks - Friend
22. The Leather Uppers - Hot Shot 
23. The Rats - Can't Stand Back 
24. The Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit - Summer's Almost Gone

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the August 28 file to download/stream the episode.

Fire Of Love & Shows # 896, 895 & 894

Originally released in 1981, Fire Of Love is the incendiary debut from The Gun Club.  Recorded over two sessions with Chris D. of L.A.’s The Flesh Eaters and Tito Larriva of The Plugz, Fire Of Love captures The Gun Club in their earliest, possessed, disturbing and raw form. Known as one of the first bands to bring together the blues and punk genres, they were one of the first blues punk bands. Fronted by the enigmatic Jeffrey Lee Pierce, bassist Rob Ritter and drummer Terry Graham, both of which played in L.A. punk band The Bags, The Gun Club’s lineup on this record was completed with Ward Dotson on guitar. The band had their beginnings following a Pere Ub concert in 1979 when Jeffrey Lee Pierce and fellow Chicano musician Brian Tristan decided to form a band. They morphed into Creeping Ritual. Lineup changes occurred often in The Gun Club, but their name origins came upon the suggestion from Keith Morris of The Circle Jerks. With a new name, Tristan exited the group shortly after and became Kid Congo Powers playing guitar in The Cramps (although he would later rejoin The Gun Club).  

Lyrically, Pierce dug deep into the American psyche that was exposed in the Delta Blues. Also, mixing elements of country, roots rock, folk and of course the energy of punk, Pierce howled taking on Southern Gothic characters and tales in the form of song like a man possessed by a haunted voodoo-like intensity. The band revitalized elements of the blues with punk creating something that was not heard before. “Sex Beat” begins with sizzling guitar riffs, slides, pounding drumbeats and mysterious basslines that provide the opening musical moments of Fire Of Love. Pierce sings of desire, the balance between that and a real connection with an intense bravado. On “Preaching The Blues,” The Gun Club’s take on the Delta Blues Robert Johnson classic, you can really hear the sound of the band playing in the moment exploding in bursts of punk and country as it slows down and picks up pace throughout. 

Other tracks such as “Promise Me,” adds elements of The Velvet Underground with its unsettling violin played by Larriva that creates tension with the more laidback blues/country grooves, “She’s Like Heroin To Me” is a bonafide blues punk track. One of the tracks that clearly sets The Gun Club apart from others in the genre, lyrics such as “She is like an eye-blue swimming pool/But she will never know that she is there/We sit together, drunk like our fathers used to be,” Pierce and The Gun Club deliver a addictive concoction pulling in themes of love, desire and existentialism. “For The Love Of Ivy” is surrounded by the tension as Pierce throws himself into the Southern Gothic characters that populate this song, sometimes taking them on too literally, that is an on the edge murder ballad. The song was co-written by Kid Congo Powers is also a part love letter to guitarist Poison Ivy of The Cramps. On this track, which commands your attention, you can also hear guitar parts that are uniquely Kid Congo-like (although they were played by Dotson on the album). “Fire Spirit” leaps forward with poetic lyrics and ramshackle lustre, “Ghost On The Highway” is a dark, terrifying track that is a rave up country punk track, “Cool Drink Of Water” is a hazy, swampy bass and drum track, as Jeffrey Lee Pierce sings with tormented swagger in this reworking of the Tommy Johnson traditional.  

Although an acquired taste by some, Fire Of Love set the path for future avenues in music. Joining the post punk world, the sounds experimented with here influenced artists such as Jack White, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Nick Cave, The Pixies and many other musicians. It helped invigorate the L.A. music scene and inspired others to start bands. Chris D. stated in 2014: “When you hear Jeffrey Lee singing, screaming, shouting, yodelling and generally warbling through this set of Southern Gothic blue/folk/punk rock anthems, you don’t hear Jeffrey alone – you hear a whole cast of characters venting their bursting spleen; You name it, Jeffrey assumed the mantle. A junior punk Brando hewing close to his tradition of country blues and garage band idols. In fact ascending to the timeless pantheon to rest alongside them.” 

Show 896 (Originally Aired On August 21st, 2021)(The Gun Club Fire Of Love, The Beach Boys Surf's Up, Can Tago Mago):

1.  The Gun Club - Sex Beat
2.  The Gun Club - Preaching The Blues
3.  Japandroids - For The Love of Ivy
4.  Jeremy Gluck - Gone Free
5.  The Gun Club - Goodbye Johnny (4-Track Demo)
6.  The Gun Club - Fire of Love (Alternate Version)
7.  The Gun Club - She's Like Heroin To Me
8.  Matt Ellis - Walk Alone
9.  CLAMM - Keystone Pols
10. Dog Day - Hell On Earth
11. The Smugglers - The B 'N' L
12. METZ - No Ceiling (Live)
13. Psychic Void - Terminal Vacation
14. The Beach Boys - Lookin' At Tomorrow
15. The Beach Boys - Till I Die
16. The Beach Boys - Seasons In The Sun
17. Chad VanGaalen - Where's It All Going?
18. The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn)
19. The Jesus And Mary Chain - Mushrooms
20. Can - Paperhouse
21. Can - Bring Me Coffee Or Tea
22. Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan
23. Ry Cooder - Dark Is The Night
24. Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkey Birds - He Walked In

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the August 21 file to download/stream the episode.

Show 895 (Originally Aired On August 14th, 2021)(The Who Who's Next, The Strokes Is This It, Dog Day Deformer):

1.  Ty Segall - Night of the Vampire
2.  The Black - Angels Don't Fall Down
3.  Jeff Tweedy - For You (I'd Do Anything)
4.  Nap Eyes - When I Come Around
5.  Sam Coffey - Hard Livin'
6.  Guided By Voices - Baba O'Reily
7.  The Dipsomaniacs - Bargain
8.  Pat DiNizio - Behind Blue Eyes
9.  Juliana Hatfield - My Wife
10. Pussy Riot - Won't Be Fooled Again
11. Pete Townshend - Getting In Tune
12. Pete Townshend - Love Ain't For Keeping
13. Pete Townshend - Goin' Mobile
14. Pete Townshend - The Song Is Over
15. The Strokes - Is This It
16. The Strokes - Alone, Together
17. The Strokes - New York City Cops
18. Dog Day - Daydream
19. Dog Day - Eurozone
20. Dog Day - Nothing To Du
21. Ashley Shadow - For Love
22. Packs - Holy Water
23. Cub - Your Bed
24. Cub - Chicho (Brave New Waves Session)
25. Fleece - On My Mind
26. David Chesworth & Bill McDonald - Delay
27. Tee-Vee Repairman - Patterns
28. Special Delivery - Not Three Bad
29. Dion Lunadon - Negative Energy

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the August 14 file to download/stream the episode.

Show 894 (Originally Aired On August 7th, 2021)(The Quiet Jungle, Jon Mckiel, Mudhoney, Ducks LTD, Kim Gray):

1.  The Quiet Jungle - Too Much In Love
2.  The Haunted - Mona
3.  Autogramm - Jody Is A Cop
4.  Peach Kelli Pop - Cherry (That's Not Her Real Name)
5.  CIVIC TV - Black Moon
6.  The Sunshiny Daze - The Night Knows (What The Day Don't)
7.  Rick White - Whatever It Is
8.  Magic Roundabout - She's A Waterfall
9.  King Khan & BBQ Show - What's Yours Is Mine
10. Jon Mckiel - Private Eye
11. Jon Mckiel - Management
12. Jon Mckiel - Brothers
13. Jon Mckiel - Turf War
14. Jon Mckiel - Chop Through
15. Liz Phair - Soap Star Joe
16. R.E.M. - So Fast, So Numb
17. R.E.M. - Texarkana
18. Modest Mouse - Heart Cooks Brain
19. Modest Mouse - What People Are Made Of
20. Mudhoney - Generation Genocide
21. Mudhoney - Into The Drink
22. Mudhoney - Let It Slide
23. Holly Golightly - Good Enough
24. Ash - Who You Drivin' Now
25. Motorists - Through To You
26. Body Breaks - Between The Heart and Mind
27. Memes - Funny Man
28. Ducks LTD - 18 Cigarettes
29. Kim Gray - Holiday

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the August 7 file to download/stream the episode.