Malfunkshun

Return To Olympus (Loosgroove/550/Epic/Sony)
by Scott Hefflon

It seems everyone wanted to help cash in on a band that broke up well over a decade ago. Not that Malfunkshun isn’t a chunk of musical history that everyone in rock should know. In a nutshell, this was Andrew Wood’s first band. That’s a great marketing phrase. Next, they’ll find bootlegged tapes of Wood singing in junior high choir and the list of labels will be even longer. Fuck, I’d buy that one too.

Andrew Wood filled a gap in my life I hadn’t known was there. I’m sure he did the same for others. I was a come-lately, but was totally drawn into Mother Love Bone’s sensuous Love Rock. The “coining” of Love Rock was pretentious, as was the whole glamour shtick, but they were a rock band like no other.

Now they give us the first Malfunkshun release. The band was Andrew on bass and vocals, his brother Kevin Wood on guitar (now in Devilhead with another brother, Brian), and drummer Regan Hagar (now in Satchel). Major links to Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, et all, will undoubtedly increase sales of an album that has moments of pure beauty and complete shit. While it may strike some as sacrilegious, some of this album really sucks. Kevin Wood was evidently still learning to play guitar when this was recorded. That’s nice to keep in mind, but only adds a moments hesitation before wishing he’d stop soloing. Gad, it’s atrocious.

Andrew’s vocals are, of course, amazing (usually) and one can draw a simple line of progression from this to the charisma and songwriting talent of Mother Love Bone. Inherently, that makes this project inferior. There are some “burrs” that hadn’t been “smoothed out” by a major label contract, and those are the elements that make this album crucial. With a cover of Ted Nugent’s “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” and the self-indulgent we-are-from-Olympus-and-we’re-here-to-heal-you-with-the-power-of-love thing going on, how can you not need this record?