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

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

grunge 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 e ...

s: the Univox Super-Fuzz and the

Electro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of g ...

Big Muff, 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 Steve or Steven Turner is the name of: Sports * Steve Turner (rugby league) (born 1984), Australian rugby league footballer * Steve Turner (Australian rules footballer) (born 1960), Australian rules footballer * Steven Turner (born 1987), Canadi ...

(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 a ...

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'', 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'', it was included in '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. 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 Daniel Joe Peters (born August 18, 1967) is the drummer for Mudhoney, having played with them since their formation in 1988. Prior to Mudhoney, he joined Bundle of Hiss when he was fifteen years old. He was also briefly the drummer for Nir ...

' propulsive drums." Kurt Cobain 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 Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, 10 October 1988, and tracks 10–15 are live on KCSB-FM, Santa Barbara, 16 November 1988.

Personnel

;Mudhoney *

– vocals, guitar *

– 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 B ...

– bass *

– 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 Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

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

, mixing

Charts

References

External links

''Superfuzz Bigmuff''
(

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) at Radio3Net (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