Mudhoney is back — three years after the near-fatal one-two punch of Matt Lukin’s resignation from the band and Reprise Records dropping the group from their roster, the founding fathers of grunge have shaken off the dust and recorded Since We’ve Become Translucent, which oddly enough sounds a bit like the adventurous major-label project the band never bothered to make for Bugs Bunny. Mudhoney still ranks low on the slickness meter on Since We’ve Become Translucent (the entire album was recorded in eight days), but the band sounds at once heavier and more confident than it did during its major-label tenure, and the addition of horns on three tracks (and violin on one) adds new textures to the classic Mudhoney throb without crushing the band’s personality or spirit. (Don’t fret — the often atonal sax on the Stooges-esque “Baby, Can You Dig the Light” could have been pulled straight from side two of Fun House, while “Where the Flavor Is” is a raunchy slice of mutant funk in the manner of Exile on Main Street.) While Guy Maddison is in many respects a stronger bassist than Lukin was, he has the good sense to stay in the background where he belongs, and if Mark Arm and Steve Turner are playing less dropped-tune metalized riffs these days, this is still Mudhoney, and there’s something gloriously unclean about the snotty “The Straight Life,” the sleazy “Where the Flavor Is,” and the menacingly anthemic “Our Time Is Now” after all these years. Since We’ve Become Translucent isn’t always the Mudhoney you remembered, but the album clearly carries the stamp of the band’s personality, and shows the group can still rock out while pulling a few new tricks from its collective sleeve. Nice to have you back, guys — did you bring beer money?

Tracklisting
1. Baby, Can You Dig The Light
2. Straight Life, The
3. Where The Flavor Is
4. In The Winner’s Circle
5. Our Time Is Now
6. Dyin’ For It
7. Inside Job
8. Take It Like A Man
9. Crooked And Wide
10. Sonic Infusion

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (9/19/02, p.104) – 3 stars out of 5 – “…The band sounds as dense and murky as ever….Even that psychedelic dirge intro is a hypnotic charmer…”

Uncut (9/02, p.114) – 3 stars out of 5 – “…their mischieviousness is…shot through with purpose, gumption and riff-raunch action…Mudhoney’s primitive garage thrash is…more primed than ever…”

Magnet (8-9/02, p.83) – “…Good enough to make longtime fans crank the volume…”

The Wire (9/02, p.66) – “…What’s immediately apparent form the opening track…is just how much more expansive their sound has become…”

CMJ (8/16/02, p.7) – “Unabashed, heavy and incessantly bold, this is the rock album that you’ve been waiting for…”

Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.75) – Ranked #19 in Mojo’s “Best Albums of 2002″

Mojo (Publisher) (9/02, p.104) – “…their eighth LP is among their best…TRANSLUCENT hangs together like a champ. Mudhoney are back.”

NME (Magazine) (8/17/02, p.32) – 7 out of 10 – “…This is a thunderous return to form…”

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