"Fish fingers all in a line. The milk bottles stand empty."
In honor of the release of the latest Melvins record, this special edition of Hunt and Gather (in three parts) will celebrate all things Melvins-related - or most, anyhow.
The Melvins are one of the most prolific, innovative and also misunderstood bands of all time. Their willingness to experiment, pushing their own musical boundaries and those of their listeners, along with their (often black) sense of humor has given some the impression that their stranger tracks and albums are some type of insult toward their loyal fans. In print, King Buzzo comes off as grumpy, bitter and sarcastic, whereas in taped interviews he seems jovial, friendly, almost jolly.The band has been mistakenly tossed into the "grunge," genre as a result of praise from the late Kurt Cobain who named them one of his favorite bands. Their inclusion as part of the "Seattle scene," in the early nineties was a double-edged sword, which gave the band more exposure but also forced them to endure the scorn of both record companies, who wanted hits and the live audiences they played for on the major arena tours they opened.
Buzz's description of the band as "Captain Beefheart playing heavy metal," is quite accurate. The band often seem like a group of mad scientists determined to try new and unusual things and challenge the way we think about records and the album format itself. Early influences included Swans, Flipper (abrasive, confrontational and slooooow) and Black Flag's brand of "My War, side 2," sludge.
In the process The band has become iconic, torchbearers for bands who are bizarre, noisy, non-conformist eclectic and strange. A slew of drone, doom, sludge bands like Boris, Sunn O))), Earth, and Sleep, cite the band as influences. They inspired the "heavier than heavy," and "slower than slow," style and then, at times abandoned it in favor of whatever else they felt like doing at the moment, setting more trends and inspiring more movements as they went. Mike Patton eventually gave them a home and free reign artistically, with his Ipecac label and is a frequent collaborator.
Buzz Osbourne ("King Buzzo," to the faithful, "Roger," to ... the taxman and census taker, presumably) started the band in Montesano Washington ,with fellow 19 year-old Matt Lukin on bass and Mike Dillard on drums, taking their name from Buzz's hated supervisor at his job as a grocery clerk. With the addition of powerhouse drummer Dale Crover, they changed their style from fast hardcore punk to what came to be known by some as "sludge," earning a reputation as one of the heaviest bands of all time.
(Above) Matt Lukin
(Below)Dale and Buzz, yearbook photos.
(Above) Matt Lukin
(Below)Dale and Buzz, yearbook photos.
Buzz, Lori (background)
26 Songs (1986)
This recording eventually mutated from 6 to 8 to 10 to 26 songs, incorporating bonus demo and comp. material. The full 26 song version, with the cover pictured, is actually an Ipecac release from 2003.
Super raw early material, complete with vinyl hisses and pops. 26 songs may seem a bit like overkill, especially since many tracks are recordings of the same songs from different sessions.
Anyone up to making comparisons may even prefer the rawer demos to the album versions.
Buzz hadn't settled into his early vocal style, yet and "Operation Blessing," is actually a super fast "punk," tune, which is weird. I find that there aren't as many standout tracks on this early stuff and the "Lukin period," isn't as interesting to me as the band's later material, but die-hard fans will want to check it out just the same. I was surprised to hear that the song "Set Me Straight," which was re-recorded for the "Houdini," album, dated this far back, until I heard, "Mangled Demos From 1983," which shows them playing it even before Dale was in the band.
Gluey Porch Treatments (1987)
The band had been together for about three years leading up to this first record. It is the last recording to feature Matt Lukin, who went on to play in Mudhoney after he became frustrated with increasingly complex arrangements.

Ozma (1989)

Bullhead (1991)

Elsewhere, the riff from "It's Shoved," sort of reminds me of a Pixies tune, whose name escapes me. "Anaconda," is another awesome burst of chaotic time changes. The bludgeoning "Zodiac," one of the most aggressive tunes in their repertoire. The band sounds absolutely rabid.
"Bullhead," is a good midway point between the sound they had come to perfect from their earlier records and the different directions they were starting to branch out into as they continued to carve out their niche as the heaviest on the planet.
It is regarded by many as the peak of this early part of their career and as simply their best by others.
Eggnog (1991)
Eggnog (1991)

Lysol (1992)
This release got the boys into a "Carbona Not Glue," lawsuit type situation with the company that makes Lysol, leading to an ordeal, where the album had to be released with a sticker covering up the name, before they pressed it again under the name "Melvins." Hey, giant chemical and solvent manufacturing corporations - people use your products to get high! From turpentine to airplane glue to Mop N Glo, someone somewhere will figure out a way to drink, huff or otherwise ingest it, to give themselves a buzz. That's actually really sad, but threatening to sue bands who make reference to this on albums will not make a difference. Rant over. This album is Joe Preston's introduction to the band - and his grand finale all wrapped into one, as the only "proper," full band release (he is also featured on one of their three Kiss homage solo albums.)
The juggernaut of "Hung Bunny," slowly builds, led by Dale's sparse, deliberate drumming and
hypnotic chanting. It continues to build and rumble, Joe's bass thundering with speaker-destroying weight. I can imagine idiots who paid to see Primus, throwing garbage at them when they were opened for them on a tour during their major-label fiasco and played this album in it's entirety, much to the chagrin of the guy getting over-anxious to hear "Winona's Big Brown Beaver,"
Just as the song begins to peak it moves into "Roman Bird Dog," as slow as where "Eggnog," left off but fully realized; a lumbering giant of a song, more than a droning soundscape.
Alice Cooper's "Second Coming/The Ballad of Dwight Frye," demonstrates their uncanny ability to play covers that are exactly the same, yet sound completely different from the originals. No messing with arrangements, or changing lyrics, The Melvins completely deconstruct a cover song, simply by playing it.
In their hands, Flippers, "Sacrifice," turns from snotty and angry to a chilling, ominous masterpiece, courtesy of the hugeness of their sound and Buzz's "God of Thunder," vocals.
"Lysol," is probably the album that most inspired the drone/doom metal genre, a style the band would come to be most be identified with, but would quickly abandon on their next recordings.
This record also marks one their first experiments in screwing around with the compact disc format. The CD plays as one gargantuan track, making it tough if you like to use the "shuffle," feature a lot.
This record is essential, a high point for this period and one of their over-all best.
Dale Crover (1992)

King Buzzo (1992)

Joe Preston (1992)

Bricklebrit has more going for it, a preview of his one-man band w/ programmed drums and samples
The last track is an epic drone-fest, which actually sounds a lot like music he continued to make for years after with Earth, Sunn O))), etc. It's sort of weird for someone to call that kind of music "lazy," even if it's not their taste. I mean, some could say the same about "Lysol." I'm not huge into Joe's EP, but I'm not super stoked on listening to Earth letting their instruments feedback and vibrate for an hour and a half. That doesn't mean that their music is somehow not legitimate.
Mangled Demos From 1983 (2005)

One of the announcers actually calls Mike Dillard "the drum-player," before correcting himself and saying "drummer."
Goofy, priceless recordings of humble, humble beginnings.
Onto the music itself, I already mentioned the early, early version of "Set Me Straight," which sounds very similar to the version recorded about 10 years later. Mike Dillard plays well, but pretty much uses the same fast punk beat throughout. Most of the songs are really unremarkable punk stuff, much like the band most of us had at the age of 18. Many of the songs sound exactly the same. There are occasionally very faint glimpses into the glorious future, such as when "Flowers," breaks down into a slow "mosh part," as they used to call them, and it finally starts to sound like the Melvins before a quick four count on the drumsticks and top speed again. Buzz also plays a nice lead somewhere in there.
Onto the music itself, I already mentioned the early, early version of "Set Me Straight," which sounds very similar to the version recorded about 10 years later. Mike Dillard plays well, but pretty much uses the same fast punk beat throughout. Most of the songs are really unremarkable punk stuff, much like the band most of us had at the age of 18. Many of the songs sound exactly the same. There are occasionally very faint glimpses into the glorious future, such as when "Flowers," breaks down into a slow "mosh part," as they used to call them, and it finally starts to sound like the Melvins before a quick four count on the drumsticks and top speed again. Buzz also plays a nice lead somewhere in there.
When it does slow down like on "Matt-Alec," it doesn't really work with Dillard's limiting straightforward rock beat. Then during the studio banter part, as on the track "Hugh," from 26 songs, the listener is reminded that they're actually young children.
Stay tuned for Part 2 : The Atlantic Years!