Nirvana's gargantuan barbed-wire hooks and Soundgarden's ham-fisted modern take on Zeppelin and Sabbath heaviness may have sold a bazillion more records, but there's no denying that the sleazy punk grind of Mudhoney put Sub Pop and the fledgling Seattle sound on the map when the label unleashed the seminal "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More/Touch Me I'm Sick" single in 1988. Openly indebted to classic hardcore, Funhouse-era Stooges, the proto-metal biker anthems of Blue Cheer, and the Northwest's deep garage-rock heritage (particularly the Sonics and the Wailers), the outfit created a savage aural squalor that made up for its lack of originality. Through the band's Sub Pop tenure and major-label output for Warner/Reprise, Mudhoney managed to consistently churn out one bracingly raucous yet tuneful effort after another, all while its contemporaries ended up disintegrating or pushing up daisies. Principals Mark Arm and Steve Turner are still swapping sloppy, fuzz-drenched leads over drummer Dan Peters' explosive rhythms with relative newcomer Guy Maddison (the latest bassist to fill in for the departed Matt Lukin), making the live Mudhoney experience one of the best reasons in the world to get covered with other people's sweat and beer. The band plays on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 12 Galaxies; call 970-9777 or visit www.12galaxies.com for more info. -- Dave Pehling
Emily Rieman
Mudhoney.
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The members of Japan's deliciously named Green Milk From the Planet Orange claim they are the "new wave of progressive rock," but that's just silly talk. Sure, their extended, heavy jams (which blew rock fans away last time this group passed through the Bay Area) are tight compositions full of mind-bending time changes like those of Yes, Rush, King Crimson, etc., and the band occasionally dives headfirst into some heady, fusion-inspired grooves. But when all is said and done, Green Milk is just a bunch of total boogie-rock freakoids, making tunes as relentless as the best Grand Funk Railroad ever had to offer, which is saying something because Grand Funk ain't no joke. The same can be said of support act No Doctors , which relocated from Chicago to the Bay Area about a year ago. This quartet boogies more like the Allman Brothers. However, No Doctors possesses a sharp, artsy edge. Its songs kick off with chunky classic-rock riffage, but eventually come apart at the seams and shape-shift into stuttering, mutant hybrids of free jazz and rhythm 'n' blues. So if you dig drinking beer and listening to kick-ass live rock 'n' roll, but you also crave some aesthetic originality while intoxicated, then check out both these outfits when they play the Hemlock Tavern on Sunday, Nov. 20; call 923-0923 or visit www.hemlocktavern.com for more info.-- Justin F. Farrar
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