Last month, up-and-coming grunge artist Sludge Mother released her third single, “Pig.” While her sound is reminiscent of grunge legends like Soundgarden or Alice in Chains, Sludge Mother has made a unique contribution to the genre. Aside from their solid musicianship, much of the power of both “Pig” and a previous single, “No Temple,” comes from the topics dealt with by their lyrics, such as sexual assault and misogyny. “No Temple” explores how misogyny creates double standards (“your loud is passion / my loud is rage / your pleasure, nature / my pleasure, shame”) and the effect of this “war” on her mind (“body no temple, it’s now a complex”). “Pig” more specifically explores sexual assault (“the devil’s at the dive bar… greedy motherf****r took what I didn’t give). Sludge Mother has shared on her Instagram that this song is based on her own personal experience and the lyrics reveal her pain and rage, but also her healing and resistance. She repeats that “come hell or high water, I won’t forget” what happened and that “what doesn’t kill you makes you sick,” but she draws strength from her family—whether referencing a real person or a lineage she identifies with (“I’m a witch’s daughter and you’re just a pig”). She concludes that “I’ll burn right out the cage / you can leave your fingerprints / but you will never take control.”
Sludge Mother’s music is so captivating because it combines the genre of grunge, with its sonic power and its primarily male-dominated legacy, with expressions of rage and resistance to misogyny and sexual assault. In addition, in today’s political climate, and especially since the repeal of Roe v. Wade, her music strikes a chord with a general rage over a loss of bodily autonomy. Sludge Mother herself makes this connection, writing on her Instagram that “Not a single woman was present at the White House meeting on women’s health” and that “I hope all the women allow themselves to feel the rage without guilt or hindrance” while “No Temple” plays in the background. Sludge Mother’s process of turning her pain and rage at experiencing sexual assault and misogyny into powerful music recalls Nick Cave’s grief at his son’s death. Both found purpose in music in the wake of tragedy and used it as a way to make sense of their experience. In Faith, Hope, and Carnage, Cave writes that his son’s death “infused everything,” while Sludge Mother sings that she “can’t forget” about her encounter with the “devil in the dive bar.”
Sludge Mother’s music is also the result of her collecting. Aside from collecting her personal experiences to use as inspiration for songs, she also collects different aspects of other musician’s work that inspires her. For example, the bridge of “No Temple” is inspired by the slowdown bridge in Soundgarden’s “Gun” and by the sound of Black Sabbath, while she cites more general inspiration from Alice in Chains and Hole in her other songs.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what Sludge Mother releases next!
It is interesting to me how Sludge Mother collects her experiences and turns them into songs. Many artists do this and I find that it results in a much more vulnerable and raw product. There are experiences in all of our lives that we cannot shake, so artists creating based on this experience helps the general public feel seen and heard.
ReplyDeleteI love the name Sludge Mother, both funny and continuing in the tradition of other punk rock girl bands like Hole and Mommy Longlegs. I really like female-fronted rock bands, as they take the stereotypically masculine genre of rock and roll into their hands and put a spin on it that is inclusive and presents social criticism of experiences women have in general/in the music scene.
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