Showing posts with label melvins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melvins. Show all posts

Thursday, December 30, 2010

MELVINS
Gluey Porch Treatments - (1987, 2001)

The second and last album done with Lukin keeps the Melvins' freak flag flying. Starting with the slow-as-hell "Eye Flys," which, if nothing else, shows off Osbourne's skill at monster soloing while Crover and Lukin play a rhythm that would be too slow even for funerals, Gluey Porch Treatments is, to a large extent, more of the same. Then again, with the possible exception of St. Vitus, not many other bands out there were embracing the love of sludge metal monstrosities as the threesome was (just compare it what Ozzy Osbourne himself was doing at the time). "Exact Paperbacks" alone would have eaten most purportedly loud groups for breakfast without even trying. The combination of sudden, herky-jerky thrash (but not thrash metal) and epic stomp and sprawl once again did wonders here. Meanwhile, Osbourne's attempts to remold the singing on "God of Thunder" into a new guise for the underground ("Bitten Into Sympathy" in particular sounds like the ultimate fusion of Gene Simmons' voice and Tony Iommi's riffs) means his voice once more sounds just ridiculously perfect. Drawn-out syllables at the end of lines descending into murk, bellowing half-understandable insanities, flanged warbles and squeals: It's all there. Crover has some great fun with drums at points -- check out the start of "Influence of Atmosphere," where the echo on his fills and pounds just makes it all the more nuttily dramatic, or the equally strong conclusion of "Leech." Besides the title track, other examples of the band's perverse wit via song title includes "Steve Instant Newman" and the perfectly descriptive "Heaviness of the Load." After being unavailable for years, Gluey Porch Treatments finally got rereleased in 2001 with a slew of demo cuts perfect for pounding your head further into your torso.

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Thursday, October 21, 2010

MELVINS
Alive At The F*cker Club Australia - (1998)

The Melvins have always been a behemoth of a live band -- where the already industrial-strength-heavy riffs of their albums become even more Godzilla-like. And this point is proven further by the 1998 release Alive at the F*cker Club. For those wondering just exactly where "the F*cker Club" is located, the cold hard fact is that there simply is no "F*cker Club." The Melvins' set was taped during 1997, on the second night of a three-night engagement at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia (with the Onyas and the Cosmic Psychos also on the bill). Unfortunately, the source of the recording was allegedly from a second-generation tape of a soundboard recording, so the Melvins' fury is dulled somewhat. However, it's always a pleasure to hear live readings of such Houdini classics as "Lizzy," as well as additional standouts like "The Bloat" and the album opening "Boris" (the latter of which stretches on for six sludge-riff-filled minutes). And for those wondering about the grisly "road kill" photo on the album's cover, according to themelvins.net, it is of a dead dog carcass.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

MELVINS
The Bride Screamed Murder - (2010)

At this point in the Melvins career, they can do pretty much whatever. Even if this means starting an album with a call-and-response track in the style of Adam Ant, complete with military cadence vocals and an extended drum solo. At the same time, withstanding some strange experimentation — including a steamy a cappella version of the Canadian folksong “Peggy Gordon” and a sludged-out, seven-and-a-half-minute cover of the Who’s “My Generation” — The Bride Screamed Murder is surprisingly accessible. Their 20th (or so) studio album ranks right alongside Senile Animal and Nude with Boots, the two prior full-lengths completed with Big Business’s Jared Warren and Coady Willis. "Inhumanity and Death," "Evil New War God," and "I’ll Finish You Off" feature some seriously meaty grooves, with dual drumming and drop-D powerhouse chunk alongside classic metal yells and moonlit howling. When things start going off the deep end in the group’s ventures into abstract realms, brightly sung vocal melodies smash through and accentuate the gloomy comic book noir with splashes of fiery red. Sure, the Melvins are brutish, but they’re having a lot of fun. (allmusic.com)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bunzqnw4mlh

Friday, April 30, 2010

MELVINS
Lysol - (1992)

Originally and notoriously known as Lysol before the company behind said household product had something to say on the matter (early copies with the original information can be found), Melvins was in many ways the pinnacle of the band at that point. Besides being the full-length farewell to indie rock labels, at least for a few years, it also showed an ambition that arguably they wouldn't have been to fulfill while on Atlantic. Though there are six separate songs on the disc, it is mastered and assembled as one megacomposition, in ways making it the perfect counterpart to the previous year's solo projects. The logical extension of the sheer monstrosity of the band's work up to that time, with longer and longer songs, its first two parts alone are jawdroppers. "Hung Bunny," which takes up the first third of the whole half-hour effort, begins with Osbourne's slabs of feedback and wordless vocals, with only very occasional drum-and-bass hits punctuating them. They rev up in full toward the end as the song shifts into "Roman Dog Bird," which easily stakes a claim as being the most Sabbath-like number the band had yet done — huge, moving at a snail's pace, and with Osbourne's already on-the-edge vocals flanged and distorted like crazy. One of the most interesting things about Melvins is that in among the mayhem, there are two cover versions included — both equally understandable sources of inspiration, both comprehensively Melvin-ized. Flipper was an obvious role model for the Melvins' slow-as-it-goes rumble, thus the trudging treatment of "Sacrifice" here. Meanwhile, none other than Alice Cooper himself gets the nod with "The Ballad of Dwight Fry," which actually slots into the whole presentation scarily well (and displays, wonder of wonders, subtlety). (allmusic.com)

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Monday, March 15, 2010

MELVINS
Stag - (1996)

The repeating sitar-into-guitar-chord start of the album makes it clear that Stag isn't going to be quite like anything the Melvins had yet recorded to that point. There's such a strong and audible emphasis on the band really exploring the possibilities of the studio throughout that the effect is breathtaking — it's a huge, epic sound that's also quite varied, a fine indication of where the band would be going in later years. The roots of the Melvins remain clear — direct, deliberate, and focused crunch — but they don't feel constrained by them, bringing in everything from more stripped-down space in the arrangements to stylistic forays revolving around the central approach. Hearing horns and scratching helping match the monster riffs on "Bar X the Rocking M" is at once a mind-f*ck and something that makes total sense, as does the mini-prog epic "Buck Owens," packing in time-signature shifts and a mid-section trip-out and more in three minutes' time. Short, almost fragmentary songs like "Hide," with its quiet guitar chime, and the weird, sparkly drones and burbles of "Soup" help to further flesh out the inspired feeling of Stag. Osborne's vocal delivery and various treatments thereupon are fantastic, ranging from dreamy float and gentle croon to rasping roar, paralleling Stag's overall emphasis on trying anything at least once to see what works. Check his winsome, light turn on "Black Bock" for a real trip — it's hard to believe this is the same guy who sang on "Hooch" and "It's Shoved." Songs like "Tipping the Lion" and "Goggles" capture the spirit of Stag excellently, able to switch from quieter to louder moments and back again effortlessly. Then there's the twinkly, Chipmunks-sung "Captain Pungent," which will leave most listeners paralyzed with fright or with laughter, if not both. (allmusic.com)

http://www.mediafire.com/?tnymtyghfwm

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

MELVINS
Bullhead - (1991)

After three albums filled for the most part with quick song bursts and the occasional longer track, the eight-song long Bullhead found the Melvins stretching out a bit more at points, this time allowing the heavily stoned tempos plenty of time to really sprawl all over the place. There are fewer sudden shifts between fast and slow moments as well, and a lot more pure lava-flow beat-over-head feedback sludge and noise. It's not all ten mph deliberation, though - "Zodiac" shows the trio at full speed and blasting aside anything that might be so foolish as to get in its way, not to mention one unhinged Osbourne vocal lead. If grunge was achieving breakthrough status in Seattle, it was being perfected in its rawest sense on this album. Opening cut "Boris" does all this in excelsis — the band's longest recorded song at this point, nearly ten minutes long, it practically drips from the bongwater of eight million potheads, with Osbourne invoking his own brand of demons over the deep crawl of the music. Osbourne here really has got the dramatic, theatrical Ozzy Osbourne attitude down, with the occasional double-tracked vocals adding to the off-kilter intensity of the performances. Crover again shows his worth on the drums — he plays things slow most of the time but, crucially, never once sloppily — while Black keeps the bass going, however relatively unheard under Osbourne's guitar attack. "It's Shoved" is the not-so-secret highlight of Bullhead, Crover's brisker drum work and Black's sharp bass playing heralding a wild lead-guitar melody and a great ensemble performance. However, efforts like "Anaconda," with its slowly uncoiling power, and the intense "If I Had an Exorcism," which gets all the more wired and wound up as it goes (Black's bass here is some of her best), are no slouches. (allmusic.com)

http://www.mediafire.com/?0xnwz1qxi1u



Friday, November 13, 2009

*** 7" SINGLE ***
MELVINS
Oven / Revulsion / We Reach - (1989)




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Saturday, October 10, 2009

MELVINS
Stoner Witch - (1994)

The early to mid-'90s proved the Melvins' golden age, and the three principal albums from that period — Stoner Witch provides the centerpiece — are virtually unassailable in their range, depth, power, and experimental courage. Picking up on the basic framework of Houdini, Stoner Witch resolves into an ear-catching workup of classic rock themes, tempered, of course, with a fairly judicious sampling of acid-trip detours. Where Houdini resided more in an expansive — though lugubriously heavy — metal vein, refining the techniques built up through the band's early struggles, Stoner Witch truly showcases the band at the apex of their wide-ranging creative abilities. The melodies — yes, melodies — work seamlessly with the ubiquitous chugging riffs; Buzzo's vocals, often reminiscent of a David Thomas (Pere Ubu) after a few weeks of no-nonsense boot camp, are sometimes quiet and reflective, and more often than not, positively Stentorian. And naturally, drummer Dale Crover's percussion and pounding behind the kit is astonishing, powerful, and daring. The album opens with the distorted thud of "Skweetis," the amps and cymbals washing well into red-line territory before yielding to a three-count of heavy-duty classic rock with "Queen," "Sweet Willy Rollbar," and "Revolve." From that point on, there is a deliberate sea-change, beginning with the faux-lounge tweaking of "Goose Freight Train," the nearly unlistenable Merzbow-noise of "Magic Pig Detective," and ultimately the hammer-down hardcore of "June Bug" sandwiched between two ambient tracks: "Shevil" and the album closer, "Lividity." (allmusic.com)

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=300c8e89fa751bc3ab1eab3e9fa335cadd31819e7e9d6c4b

Friday, September 11, 2009

MELVINS
Ozma - (1989)

With Black in on bass and the band relocated to San Francisco, the Melvins started, in a subtle way, exploring and developing their already-trademark sound further. The genre-dipping and out-of-nowhere efforts of later years were still some distance off, to be sure, but moments like the vocal/drum-only part on "Oven" and the needle-thin feedback treatment punctuating "Revulsion/We Reach" (along with occasional chimes) show more chances already being taken. Osbourne's tribute to Ozzy reaches new heights throughout — opening track "Vile" in particular blends that and the running Gene Simmons fascination into a twisted monster, insistent, unnerving, and threatening all at once. "Green Honey" is another great, one of the quicker songs (at least comparatively speaking) going off as a slightly echo-shrouded Osbourne fires off a few quick rambles. Crover once again is the band's not secret weapon, as the clattering start of "Agonizer" and the subtle but spot-on tempo shifts on "Claude" make clear. Black's bass playing is steady-as-it-goes enough not to get in the way of anything, and she and Crover make enough bedrock thump for Osbourne to let loose with both his pipes and his guitar. Whether it's the creepily calm start of "Let God Be Your Gardener," plucking rather than bulldozing forward for once, or the grinding do-not-pass-go attack of "Raise a Paw," Ozma is out for blood and gets it. Killer song titles this time out include "Ever Since My Accident" and "Cranky Messiah." The random what-the-hell moment is right at the end, though — "Candy-O," a cover of the Cars song that shouldn't work but actually does the business. Also fun — consider the lead-guitar melody of "Love Thing" and how it oddly resembles Pearl Jam's breakthrough hit "Alive" from a few years later. (allmusic.com)

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=300c8e89fa751bc395af63b7d44918aa795a77b8310ceaa5

Wednesday, September 2, 2009


MELVINS
Nude With Boots - (2008)

As indicated by the "Good Times Bad Times"/"Moby Dick"-esque drum-and-guitar power jam that blasts off the opening song, "Kicking Machine," the majority of Nude with Boots showcases the Zeppelin meets Sabbath in a dark alley, classic rock side of the Melvins. Rather than toying with excruciating sonic noise like some of their more experimental discs (Pigs of the Roman Empire, Colossus of Destiny), or continuing down their road of deconstructed doomsday drones — a sound they pioneered, setting the pace for bands like Boris and Sunn 0))) — they stick to frank, bludgeoning stoner rock. The result is yet another crushing platter in their extensive discography that's meant to be cranked to the max. On the second album to feature founder Buzz Osborne and cofounder Dale Crover alongside Big Business bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis, a newfound energy permeates and drives the band, often resulting in enthusiastic tempos and a sense of velocity. This is a drastic change for a group that built a foundation on trudging doggedly, like sneakers stuck in rubber cement. Along with the newly acquired taste for speed and brevity, even more notable is the interplay between the group members. The newcomers mirror the movements of the veterans, with drummers Crover and Willis hammering heavy beats in synchronicity, while Warren acts as the lil' Buzzo to King Buzzo, intricately layering cloned vocal screams and sneers while strumming basslines in tandem with the guitar riffs. Loudly. Osborne has coined their sound as a hideous cacophony of melody, which is not too far off, but there are some glimpses of tuneful pop sensibilities here as the melodies sneak through more than ever before — and this is the sound of a band moving forward. As with most endeavors in uncharted territory, some songs miss the mark (an unnecessary ambient keyboard instrumental "Flush," for instance), but the straightforward beasts like "Billy Fish," "The Smiling Cobra," and the majestic title song "Nude with Boots" showcase the Melvins at the top of their game, while the lumbering brutality of "It Tastes Better Than the Truth" and "The Savage Hippy" shows that their warped sensibilities are still intact and that they're far from softening, even after almost 25 years in the game. (allmusic.com)

http://www.mediafire.com/?vgtdwgwitfc


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