This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Translucent? Try invisible. After these Seattle grunge pioneers got dropped from their major-label deal and lost longtime bassist Matt Lukin a few years back, many assumed they were done like dinner. Well, don’t stick a fork in ’em just yet.
Now reconfigured and recharged with a new bassist — and back home on their original label Sub Pop — Mudhoney rise again with the ass-kicking Since We’ve Become Translucent, their sixth studio album. Yes indeedy, I am happy to report the boys who called their first EP Superfuzz Bigmuff still know how to put the pedal to the metal. This 10-cut disc finds Mark Arm and his cohorts cranking out the same chugging, Stooges-inspired garage-gunk that is their wont, complete with wiry guitar riffs, sloppy drumming and Arm’s nasal whining. One new touch: A horn section pops up here and there, giving rockers like Where the Flavor Is a Stonesy ’70s vibe and injecting free-form jams like Sonic Infusion with a dose of Iggy and co.’s L.A. Blues. “I’m a winner ’cause I got nothing left to lose,” yowls Arm. Mudhoney may be translucent, but you can see just what he means.
