If it were 2001, Puddle of Mudd’s fourth studio release would fit
right into the musical landscape. Producers Brian Hawes and John
Kurzweg give the tunes real power, amping up the gnarly guitars and
bringing out the rasp in Wes Scantlin’s vocals. Equally rooted in
grunge and nü-metal, the album would play nicely next to the
latest offerings from Staind/Linkin Park/Creed. But it’s not 2001. So
when Scantlin opens the album singing “I got to get this shit off my
back” on “Stoned,” his angst-ridden lyrics just seem out of touch, even
if the tune careens with all the energy of a Foo Fighters number.
Scantlin is on better ground on the insipid but catchy “Spaceship,”
a pick-up tune that at least suggests a sense of humor. But rote
rockers such as “Out of My Way,” “Blood on the Table” and “Hooky,” a
tune that — and we’re not making this up — his 12-year-old
son wrote about how he’d rather stay home and masturbate than go to
school, have little going for them. Give Puddle of Mudd this much
credit — while they appeared to be a one-hit blunder when
“Blurry,” from their 2001 debut Come Clean, became a huge hit,
they’ve proved far more resilient. But then we are living at a time
when irrelevant acts like Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots
continue to tour and record. — Jeff Niesel
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2009.
