YMMV / Puddle of Mudd

• Condemned by History: They weren't always the butt of the joke as they're known now. Back during Post-Grunge's heyday, they were wildly popular and made the top charts with their signature songs "She Hates Me" and "Blurry". Once the genre's heyday was over, so was their charting success, which wasn't helped by Wes Scantlin's worsening alcoholism and jackass antics. While he did manage to clean up his act, their 2020 performance of Nirvana's "About A Girl" on SiriusXM torpedoed any chance of them ever becoming respected again.
• Memetic Mutation: Their live cover of 'About A Girl' by Nirvana went viral in mid-2020 for Wes' hilarious attempts at matching Kurt Cobain's gravelly high notes.
• Older Than They Think: They first formed in 1991 at the height of the grunge scene, but it took until 2001 for them to get a major label deal, by which time post-grunge was the dominant subgenre of rock.
• Parody Displacement: "She Blocked Me", a parody of "She Hates Me", went viral and eclipsed the original in popularity after being uploaded to Albino Blacksheep.
• Signature Song: "Blurry" by far. "She Hates Me" is also up there, but is nowhere near as remembered as its predecessor.
• So Bad, It's Good: Wes's vocal performance in their cover of "About a Girl" is so awful that the listener can't help but laugh. Even better is that he looks like he's passing a kidney stone while trying to hit those high notes.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: "She Hates Me" has a melody similar to "Summer Nights" from the musical Grease
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Of all the post-grunge bands that tried to copy Nirvana, Puddle of Mudd is often pointed to by detractors as the most shining example. Even Wes Scantlin himself looks like Kurt Cobain.

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