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Under a Billion Suns on LP

For 18 years, Mudhoney has proved to be one of the most consistently electrifying acts to survive the grunge implosion, whatever that was. The wolfish howls of singer Mark Arm, soulful splatterings of guitarist Steve Turner, and frenzied fills of drummer Dan Peters have produced nine albums to date, most of which are considered neo-garage classics. Drummer Matt Lukin has been replaced by the inimitable Australian Guy Maddison. "Under A Billion Suns" is performed with the same amplified urgency of their previous work. Mudhoney has never swayed from their vision of making really loud rock, and this album is no exception. Produced by three notable knobsters, Phil Ek, Johnny Sangster, and Tucker Martine, and boasting a blaring horn section, this record exposes a more snidely political-fueled side of our shaggy heroes, but one revealed through the invariables of the Mudhoney recipe: thick, soggy punk riffs and underrated guitar dynamics, psychedelic tangents, and snot-nosed finger pointing. Loud and fierce.