''Superfuzz Bigmuff'' is the debut EP and first major release by the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of ...

band

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. ...

. It was released on October 20, 1988 through record label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

. The album was later re-released in 1990 in the form of ''

Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles ''Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles'' is a compilation album by the grunge band Mudhoney. The album contains the entire Superfuzz Bigmuff EP, the A-sides and B-sides of 2 singles, and 2 covers from split singles with Sonic Youth and The Dicks. ...

''.

Album information

The album was named after two of the band's favorite

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

effects pedal An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ele ...

s: the

Univox Super-Fuzz The Univox Super-Fuzz was a fuzzbox produced by the Univox company, primarily for use with the electric guitar or bass. History Origin The circuit was designed in the late 1960s by the Japanese company Honey, in the form of a multi effect calle ...

and the Electro-Harmonix

Big Muff The Big Muff Pi (π), often known simply as the Big Muff, is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar. It is used by bassist ...

, which helped to provide the band's signature "dirty" sound. The cover artwork is a photograph of frontman

Mark Arm Mark Arm (born Mark Thomas McLaughlin; February 21, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. His former group, Green River, was one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun, ...

(left) and guitarist Steve Turner (right) performing live by photographer Charles Peterson. Other artwork on the album includes more photos of the band performing and them posing topless.

Song information

"In 'n' Out of Grace" opens with a sample of the

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as ...

from

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

's character in the 1966 movie ''

The Wild Angels ''The Wild Angels'' is a 1966 American outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, ''The Wild Angels'' was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles an ...

'', saying "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do…"; the same sample was later used on Primal Scream's song " Loaded".

Reception and legacy

During initial release, the EP sold incredibly poorly (even by Sub Pop standards), however, it has since been acknowledged as one of the seminal records of the Seattle scene. In mid-2008 the EP charted at #25 on the UK Indie Album Chart, a peak for the EP, twenty years after its release. Along with Mudhoney's second album ''

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge ''Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge'' is the second studio album by American rock band Mudhoney. It was recorded in 1991, at a time when the band was thinking of signing to a major record label, but decided to release the album on Sub Pop. The album s ...

'', it was included in ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. In its review, Jamie Gonzalo called it "sexy, smart, humorous and hard", as well as writing " udhoneyemerged from the underground with this mischievous workout, achieving tense and dramatic musical structures with Turner's scalping guitars, Mark Arm's angry vocals, Matt Lukin's mighty bass and Dan Peters' propulsive drums."

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

listed the EP in his top fifty albums of all time. Guitarist Turner also considered it to be Mudhoney's first official studio album, despite it being an EP initially.

Track listing

Original Release (1988)

Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles (1990)

Deluxe Edition (2008)

*On Disc 2, tracks 1–9 are live in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, 10 October 1988, and tracks 10–15 are live on

KCSB-FM KCSB-FM (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station located on the UC Santa Barbara campus. KCSB is designed to be educational for both programmers and listeners. UCSB students and other programmers are provided an opportunity to lear ...

, Santa Barbara, 16 November 1988.

Personnel

;Mudhoney *

– vocals, guitar * Steve Turner – guitar, backing vocals *

Matt Lukin Matthew David Lukin (born August 16, 1964) is an American former musician, best known as a bassist and founding member of the Melvins and Mudhoney. Career Melvins (1983–1987) Lukin co-founded the Melvins in 1983 with guitarist/vocalist Bu ...

– bass * Dan Peters – drums ;Technical personnel *

Jack Endino Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhoney, ...

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

, mixing

Charts

References

External links

''Superfuzz Bigmuff''
(

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Flash ...

) at

Radio3Net Radio 3 net is the former ''Radio România Tineret'' (or Radio 3). More than 20,000 albums are stored on Radio 3 net. A few of the prominent features available on the website are "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Mus ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Mudhoney albums 1988 debut EPs Grunge EPs Albums produced by Jack Endino Sub Pop EPs Au Go Go Records EPs Glitterhouse Records EPs