ALBUM REVIEW: King Buzzo with Trevor Dunn, "Gift of Sacrifice"

By: Peter Morsellino

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 14/08/2020

Label: Ipecac Recordings

“Gift of Sacrifice” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Mental Vomit

2). Housing, Luxury, Energy

3). I’m Glad I Could Help Out

4). Delayed Clarity

5). Junkie Jesus

6). Science in Modern American

7). Bird Animal

8). Mock She

9). Acoustic Junkie

The Review:

Taking a huge creative step from 2014's “This Machine Kills Artists”, Buzz Osbourne's latest work offers some high strangeness to the typically masterful songwriting of his King Buzzo solo releases.  Accompanied by Mr Bungle's bassist extraordinaire, Trevor Dunn, “Gift of Sacrifice” provides a delightfully unique listening experience. 

With Mr Dunn's acoustic bass adding a classy lilt to the King's dark moodiness, “Gift of Sacrifice” is one of the most imaginative albums that I've had the pleasure of listening to all year. From jazzed out jams to strange noise pieces, this album definitely leans more to the freaked out side of things. Wild strings fluctuate across the nine tracks adding to the mystique of the release.

I do have to admit that this one is going to be hit or miss for a lot of people. Upon first listen I just plain wasn't into it. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. But I gave it another go and I'm really glad that I did. In the right frame of mind, this can be an incredible musical journey; you just need to allow yourself to go there. A lot of tracks remind me of Tom Waits' “Mule Variations” album, with dark tones mingling with the jazz melodies to forge a satisfyingly creepy atmosphere. It’s a lot of things and none of them all at once.

My advice for this one would be to really set your mood in advance. Pour yourself a glass of wine, dim the lights and get cozy in your finest lounger. Maybe light a joint and really settle yourself in. Let the music take you for a ride. Let it slide on in to your ear holes and rejoice in the frantic chill that it exudes.  You're going to enjoy this one if you let yourself.

“Gift of Sacrifice” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp  

ALBUM REVIEW: Daughters, “You Won’t Get What You Want”

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/10/2018

Label: Ipecac Recordings

Daughters are making noise rock that sounds like it has been beamed back to the present from a million years in the future. "You Won't Get What You Want" is an incredible album that casually destroys all peers and reminds everyone who is in charge.

“You Won’t Get What You Want” CD//DD//2LP track listing:

1. City Song
2. Long Road No Turns
3. Satan In The Wait
4. The Flammable Man
5. The Lords Song
6. Less Sex
7. Daughter
8. The Reason They Hate Me
9. Ocean Song
10. Guest House

The Review:

The mere existence of a new LP from notorious Rhode Island miscreants Daughters in 2018 is cause for celebration. The fact that "You Won't Get What You Want" is the quartet's first album since 2010 yet somehow manages to continue the band's wildly chaotic tradition of reinvention and innovation is nothing short of a miracle. 

The record kicks off deep in alien territory with the unsettling claustrophobia of "City Song". The ominous thud of sparse drums, a wash of crackling low-end fuzz and Alexis Marshall's spooked drawl combine to create an air of inescapable anxiety that sounds more like “Liars” than anything from the Hydra Head catalogue. As the dread builds, guitars create a sharp, piercing squall akin to being attacked with a dentist's drill. It's devastating start to a wild and tense ride through constantly shifting sonic terrain. 

Following this storming entrance it's obvious that Daughters have maintained their uncompromising approach but found new ways to torment the listener. "Ocean Song" takes the template of "City Song" and draws it out into a relentless pound that builds in volume in intensity to its savage conclusion. The dustbowl twang of "Daughter" builds up to a climax of twinkling synths that could almost be described as pretty while "Satan In The Wait" manages to combine uneasy tension with bursts of hypnotic melody.

Every track on "You Won't Get What You Want" seems to demonstrate that Daughters have an almost bottomless pit of inspiration to draw upon. Even songs like the weirdly funky "Less Sex" which sounds like sinister minimal r'n'b being mauled by HEALTH work and feel totally at home on this record next to the more gnarly, frenetic moments. "The Flammable Man" is a whirlwind two minute reminder of the bands hyperactive past while the menacing churn of "Long Road No Turns" acts as the conduit from their back catalogue to their current incarnation. "The Lords Song" and "The Reason They Hate Me" even come close to resembling something like conventional punk rock, albeit a queasy, shambling repetitive thrash like Pissed Jeans at their most unkempt.

There are many bands out there making noise rock that take influence from the past and bend it into weird new forms. Daughters are making noise rock that sounds like it has been beamed back to the present from a million years in the future. "You Won't Get What You Want" is an incredible album that casually destroys all peers and reminds everyone who is in charge.

“You Won’t Get What You Want” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Spotlights - "Seismic"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 06/10/2017

Label: Ipecac Recordings

Be it the album’s title, the heft of the cascading guitar riffs, or the thick atmosphere the band creates, this is a serious release that’s here to make a statement.  “Seismic” is an album that’s easy to get lost in, which judging by the depth of sound, is exactly what Spotlights set out to do.

“Seismic” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Seismic

2. Learn to Breathe

3. The Size of the Planet

4. Ghost of a Glowing Forest

5. Under the Earth

6. A Southern Death

7. The Opening

8. What is This? Where Are We?

9. Hollow Bones

10. Hang Us All

11. The Hope of a Storm

The Review:

New York- based, husband and wife duo Spotlights wants nothing less than to be taken seriously on their Ipecac Recordings debut album, “Seismic.” Be it the album’s title, the heft of the cascading guitar riffs, or the thick atmosphere the band creates, this is a serious release that’s here to make a statement. Everything is mapped out; there are no false steps, no room for improvisation, just a hefty slab of post-metal-whatever rock music. And you know what, it’s damn good!

Musically, Spotlights has a few obvious influences – I’m looking at you Deftones and ISIS – but that shouldn’t be a surprise considering the label the band is on. Luckily, Spotlights uses these two bands as just that, influences, and prevents the band coming across as a watered down band confined to a particular time and genre.

It’s the layers that make Spotlights what they are. They hit loud and hard at face value and that’s great. The guitar riffs are crunchy and slow and the drums are in your face. Everything is turned up real loud, which is exactly how the album should be listened to. Once the volume is turned up and the listener sits back, that’s when Spotlights really starts to unfold.

Spotlights is able to put all the tools at their disposal to good use. Be it in the way the synthesizers accentuate the tenderness in the fat riffing or how the sound of strummed guitar strings deep in the mix help round things out, “Seismic” becomes a release that’s as tall as it is wide. The hour plus run time might be a touch on the long side of things, but when there’s so much mood and atmosphere, an album’s run time becomes insignificant pretty quickly.

Understanding “Seismic” means understanding the layers. The songs are there and the sound is big. Spotlights make their presence known with these elements. Then the accents are found; the synthesizers are well placed and the vocals provide just that bit of necessary breathing room. “Seismic” is an album that’s easy to get lost in, which judging by the depth of sound, is exactly what Spotlights set out to do.

“Seismic” is available here

Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Dead Cross - "Dead Cross"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 04/08/2017

Label: Ipecac Recordings |

Three One G

While Dead Cross don’t quite deliver the all-out face-melting insanity you may expect from their constituent parts, this debut is still an exhilarating burst of queasy punk rock mayhem that reminds most young pretenders who’s in charge.

“Dead Cross” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Seizure and Desist
2. Idiopathic
3. Obedience School
4. Shillelagh
5. Bela Lugosi’s Dead
6. Divine Filth
7. Grave Slave
8. The Future Has Been Cancelled
9. Gag Reflex
10. Church of the Motherfuckers

The Review:

It’s impossible not to get excited about the talent gathered to form Dead Cross. Any new project from Mike Patton comes with high expectations, but throw in the mighty drum skills of Dave Lombardo, The Locust’s Justin Pearson on bass and Festival Of Dead Deer’s Michael Crain unleashing six-string carnage and anticipation goes through the roof.

What’s most apparent on the band’s debut LP is that they sound like they are having a total blast. Dead Cross’ blend of no-nonsense hardcore punk, restless metal and goth-tinged weirdness may be slightly more straightforward than the band member’s career peaks but it packs a real punch.

The highlights of this album come when Dead Cross switch between breathless intensity and slower sections within the space of a track. “Idiopathic” and “Obedience School” are sub-three minute epics that find the band ripping through furious riffs and sections of reverb-assisted grandeur. This backdrop of ever-changing sounds and moods give Patton freedom to unleash his full arsenal of vocal talents from smooth crooning to incomprehensible gurgles and screams. Most disturbing is his mumbled utterances of “Tampax” over the bizarre locked groove that ends “Gag Reflex”.

“Shillelagh” is the closest Dead Cross get to Faith No More territory with a strong “King For A Day...” feel to its ever-shifting punk rock churn. The second half of the album finds the band channelling the spirit of Pearson and Crain’s 31G Records past, particularly the off-kilter rock’n’roll discord of “The Future Has Been Cancelled”. The only slight misfire here is their cover of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. They deliver a spirited version of the track but its presence in the middle of the LP is jarring and disrupts its breakneck flow.

While Dead Cross don’t quite deliver the all-out face-melting insanity you may expect from their constituent parts, this debut is still an exhilarating burst of queasy punk rock mayhem that reminds most young pretenders who’s in charge.

“Dead Cross” is available here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Melvins - "A Walk With Love & Death"

By: Ben Fitts

Album Type: Full Length (Double)

Date Released: 07/07/2017

Label: Ipecac Recordings

 

On “A Walk with Love and Death”, the Melvins do both things that their cultish fans love about them, and do them both damn well.

“A Walk With Love & Death” CD//DD//LP track listing:

“Love”

1. Aim High
2. Queen Powder Party
3. Street Level St. Paul
4. The Hidden Joice
5. Give It to Me
6. Chicken Butt
7. Eat Yourself Out
8. Scooba
9. Halfway to the Bakersfield Mall
10. Pacoima Normal
11. Park Head
12. T-Burg
13. Track Star
14. The Asshole Bastard

“Death”

1. Black Hearth
2. Sober-delic (acid only)
3. Euthanasia
4. What’s Wrong with You
5. Edgar the Elephant
6. Christ Hammer
7. Flaming Creature
8. Cactus Party
9. Cardboro Negro

The Review:

Thirty-four years into their career, the Washington trio Melvins have established themselves as one of the most important groups of weirdos in the history of recorded music. They pioneered the very foundations of both sludge and grunge, were the first to fully utilize the uses of drop tunings and were a major influence on seemingly every metal band at least bordering doom on this side of 1990. It is impossible to view a new work of theirs without the context of their back catalogue. And that back catalogue is vast, but amazingly contains scarcely a forgettable record. Each new Melvins release finds a new personality and/or territory and their newest full-length, “A Walk With Love & Death” does both. Twice.

At twenty-three songs (with a total runtime of eighty-nine minutes), “A Walk With Love & Death” is the Melvins’ first double-album, and they embrace the concept. While many albums spread themselves between two disc because there was simply too much material to be contained on just one, on “A Walk With Love &  Death”, the Melvins create two distinct, separate albums (the first titled “Death”, the second titled “Love”) and package them together as one cohesive unit.

“Death”, the first disc, is by far the more accessible of the two discs and is rank with breezy, blues based grooves. “Death” opens the swampy “Black Health”, which, while still clearly the Melvins, is oddly reminiscent of Creedence Clearwater Revival or Tony Joe White. Intensity builds over the darker, grungier track “Sober-Deli (Acid Only)” before the arrival of “Euthanasia”, a rumbling, groove based sludge metal song (the kind of sound that many think of first when they think of the Melvins).

These moods represented by these first three tracks, bluesy and breezy, grungy and sulky and classic Melvins sludge, more or less define the remaining six songs on the “Death” side of “A Walk with Love and Death”. They are mixed differently and to different proportions, from the stomping bluesy rock and roll of “What’s Wrong With You” and “Cactus Party” to the menacing, propulsive sludge of “Flaming Creature”, the latter of which possibly takes the cake for the best track to be found anywhere on the “Death” side of the album and incorporates some of the funnest, most rifftastic and straightforward music that the Melvins have ever recorded. However, this is balanced out by the following disc, “Love”. That is where things get weird.    

After the buzzing, white instrument noise that ends “Cardboa Negro”, the track that closes “Death”, “Love” introduces itself with ambient street noise on the track “Aim High”. Snippets of casual conversation, the clacks of high-heeled feet and the drone of wind striking a mic set up to introduce the second disc of “A Walk With Love & Death”. “Love” is not all tape collage, and at nearly thirty seconds into “Aim High”, a synthesizer, playing actual tonal notes, can be heard struggling over the din of human background noise, a battle that it eventually loses. “Aim High” sets the precedent for the rest of the second disc.

 “Love” is a constant back and forth between tonal music, made by instruments, and ambient, collected sounds. Both ingredients get chances to shine, in varying amounts, throughout “Love”. The tracks on “Love” to feature the most music (as it is traditionally understood) are punk-infused, avant-garde jazz piece “Scooba”, which even features singing vocals (albeit sampled, and somewhat comical ones) and “Give It To Me”, which sounds like a Chicago blues band caught in the midst of interdimensional travel, and sounds less and less like Chicago and more like that other dimension as the song progresses. Conversely, tracks such as “The Hidden Joice” and “Chicken Butt” are built around studio altered spoken samples, with only a backdrop of dissonant synthesizers (with some sparse guitar playing on “The Hidden Joice”). The other ten tracks on “Love” explore seemingly every midpoint one can imagine, from the white noise feedback and out of focus guitar shredding of “Street Level St. Paul” to the casual street noise set to an electronic background of “T-Burg”.

It wasn’t enough for the Melvins to just make a double album. If they were going to do it, they were going to do it in a way that displayed the duality of their nature, taking both ends to their extreme. “Death” is upbeat, groove-based, energetic, punk derived rock and roll that teeters into metal, grunge and blues as they see fit. It is quite possibly the most conventional, accessible collection of music that the band was ever released, even more so than classic major label efforts such as “Houdini” or “Stoner Witch”. And it’s wonderfully enjoyable. The second disc, “Love”, is some of the band’s most obtusely difficult music, on par with 1994’s infamous display of weirdness, “Prick”. And it’s wonderfully challenging. On “A Walk With Love & Death”, the Melvins do both things that their cultish fans love about them, and do them both damn well.   

 “A Walk with Love and Death” is available here

Band info:  bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Crystal Fairy - "Crystal Fairy"

By: Victor Van Ommen


Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 24/02/2017
Label: Ipecac Recordings

Very much the sum of their parts, Crystal Fairy stares down the listener with psychotic energy, what you get are 11 songs of screeching, high intensity riffs, hooks that are both jagged an accessible and a chemistry within that makes these tunes jump out of the speakers.

“Crystal Fair” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Chiseler

2). Drugs on the Bus

3). Necklace of Divorce

4). Moth Tongue

5). Crystal Fairy

6). Secret Agent Rat

7). Under Trouble

8). Bent Teeth

9). Posesión

10). Sweet Self

11). Vampire X-Mas

The Review:

Considering Crystal Fairy’s lineup, it’s no wonder that the band brings tunes with a high riff-factor on their self-titled debut. Starring King Buzzo and Dale Crover, the fold is further filled out with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (At The Drive In) and Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes. The album consists of 11 songs, each one dives deeper into a bizarre pit of screeching, high intensity riffs.

Very much the sum of their parts, Crystal Fairy stares down the listener with psychotic energy. It’s Dale’s job to lay down the law, which he does most notably in “Bent Teeth.” Rodriguez-Lopez helps bridge the gap between Dale’s intense push and Buzzo’s guitar, but the star of the show here is Terri Gender Bender. Whether she’s owning the title track with her gnarly snarl or spitting out the Spanish language lyrics in “Secret Agent Rat,” it’s her voice that’s keeping the Crystal Fairy boat afloat. It’s her voice that’s front and center. And it’s her voice that makes this band unfuckwithable.

Ignore the label “supergroup” in this case and instead take in Crystal Fairy for what they are; a tight unit delivering tight, quirky rock songs. Sure, the tunes are filled with hooks that are both jagged and accessible – which is what we should expect from a band that’s half Melvins – but there’s something about the chemistry in Crystal Fairy that makes these tunes jump out of the speakers.

“Crystal Fairy” is available to preorder/buy here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Melvins - "Basses Loaded" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 03/06/2016
Label: Ipecac Recordings

“Basses Loaded” is yet another stellar release from the Melvins. They may never release another record as influential as their 80’s and 90’s classics but the fact they are still unleashing vital shots of oddball heavy rock, 33 years into their career is testament to their immortal power.

“Basses Loaded” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. The Decay of Lying (Steve McDonald)
02. Choco Plumbing (Jared Warren)
03. Beer Hippie (Dale Crover, aka Melvins 1983 lineup)
04. I Want To Tell You (Steve McDonald)
05. Captain Come Down (JD Pinkus)
06. Hideous Woman (Steve McDonald)
07. Shaving Cream (Dale Crover, aka Melvins 1983 lineup)
08. Planet Distructo (Trevor Dunn, aka Melvins Lite lineup)
09. War Pussy (Steve McDonald)
10. Maybe I Am Amused (Krist Novoselic)
11. Phyllis Dillard (Dale Crover, aka Melvins 1983 lineup)
12. Take Me Out To The Ballgame (Dale Crover, aka Melvins 1983 lineup)

The Review:

What came first – the title or the concept of the new Melvins record? Either way, “Basses Loaded” is a good name to cap off this multi bass player extravaganza. The deadly duo of King Buzzo and Dale Crover are joined by a plethora of four-string warriors and tub-thumpers to create another solid entry in the Melvins’ canon.

The plethora of personnel involved in the creation of this album might raise concerns about its coherence.  These doubts prove unfounded as “Basses Loaded” has the feel of a singles collection from a band in their prime. The fun of playing ‘guess the bass player’ only adds to this infectious energy.

The most distinctive contribution here is provided by Trevor Dunn on the excellent “Planet Distructo”. His upright bass is the foundation for a subdued slow-burning track which provides stark contrast to the high octane mayhem elsewhere and ends up being one of the albums highlights. The song concludes with Dunn and Crover engaged in a duelling jazzy solos, both musicians relishing the chance to cut loose.  Next easiest to spot is Jared Warren who brings the heavy metal thunder on “Choco Plumbing”.

Everything we’ve come to expect from the current Melvins first team line-up of Buzzo, Crover and the Big Business rhythm section is in full effect here. It’s four minutes of hard-rocking riffs, thunderous dual drumming and maniacal harmonies that makes you yearn for another full-length from these guys soon.

The rest of the four string warriors here are harder to place on first listen but provide some killer contributions. Butthole Surfer’s JD Pinkus fuels some serious riffarama on “Captain Come Down” while Krist Novoselic brings bass and accordion to the unexpected power pop of “Maybe I’m Amused”.

The remaining tracks are split between Redd Kross’ Steve Macdonald and Melvins’ own Dale Crover on low end duty. Mike Dillard gets behind the kit to allow Crover to power through the pummelling likes of “Beer Hippie” and the cheeky foul-mouthed nursery rhyme “Shaving Cream”.  Macdonald’s tunes cover similarly diverse ground, from classic Melvins facemelters like “War Pussy” to the catchy glam stomp of “I Want To Tell You”. “The Decay of Dying” is Macdonald’s best contribution though, and probably the pinnacle of “Basses Loaded”. It utilises the classic grunge quiet/loud dynamic to great effect with periods of restrained crawling menace giving way to bursts of anthemic release.

“Basses Loaded” is yet another stellar release from the Melvins. They may never release another record as influential as their 80’s and 90’s classics but the fact they are still unleashing vital shots of oddball heavy rock, 33 years into their career is testament to their immortal power.  

“Basses Loaded” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook 

Melvins - ‘The Bulls & The Bees / Electroretard’ (Album Review)

‘Music such as this should be challenging to the point of it being unlistenable and unbearable. But Melvins manage to make it so appealing, so tantalising and addictive.’

Album Type: Compilation

Date Released: 2/6/2015

Label: Ipecac Recordings

‘The Bulls & The Bees / Electroretard’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

The Bulls & The Bees

1). The War On Wisdom

2). We Are Doomed

3). Friends Before Larry

4). A Really Long Wait

5). National Hamster

Electroretard

6). Shit Storm

7). Youth Of America

8). Gluey Porch Treatments

9). Revolve

10). Missing

11). Lovely Butterflies

12). Tipping The Lion

13). Interstellar Overdrive

THE BULLS & THE BEES LINE UP:

King Buzzo
Dale Crover
Coady Willis
Jared Warren

ELECTRORETARD LINE UP:

King Buzzo
Dale Crover
Kevin Rutmanis
Mark Deutrom

Review:

Melvins; perennially messed up, somehow always managing a way to push the envelope from within the confines of their strait jackets. Truly defining this band is like trying to eat soup with a fork, they’re an amalgamation, a bastardisation of so many styles; many trippy and weird, many heavy, gritty and snarling yet always haunting you with melodies and hooks that get you worryingly aroused. Such innovation – or a complete and utter disregard for the expected and predictable at least – has been hugely influential since their formation with strands of their DNA found in a plethora of bands since. ‘The Bulls & The Bees / Electroretard’ then is a hybrid re-issue of two of their most experimental releases. Considering how bat shit crazy their ‘sane’ stuff is, when they aren’t fannying about with test tubes and Bunsen Burners, it’s pretty damn obvious that this is going to be a topsy turvy listen. 

Originally released for free to coincide with their May 2012 US tour with Unsane, ‘Bulls & The Bees ‘ half of this release (The War On Wisdom, We Are Doomed, Friends Before Larry, A Really Long Wait, National Hamster) is out and out classic Melvins. As cliché as that may sound, their trademark stamps are splattered all over these songs like a bad case of bukkake. From the bigfoot stomp of the drums that open ‘The War On Wisdom,’ to its staccato, gunfire riff and a painfully melodious chorus to ‘We Are Doomed’s’ slower, treacle thick guitar work a pained fuzz solo, the whole thing jitters and bounces across their padded cell brilliantly. ‘A Really Long Wait’ has a superlative cinematic quality to it, at first resembling the intro to Cream’s ‘White Room’ but slowly contorting into a whirl of sound effects and ominous noise which leads wonderfully into the grandiose, evil fanfare of  ‘National Hamster.’ 

Throughout this release, the band’s collective bi-polar disorder defines its musicality and identity.  In an instant, things can escalate and accelerate or take a sharp leftfield turn. One moment you could be listening to choral like vocal ‘aahs’ over a genteel backing, the next a fanged riff and sludgy bombshell punches you in the back of the head. Or the complete reverse, why a battering becomes a stroking, a spooning.

Backmasking is the ideology that drives ‘Electroretard’ meanwhile. Consequently, the reversal of the compositions giving them an eerie quality that raises the hairs on your arms and neck while sending your head spinning like you’ve dropped a handful of tramadol after a blunt. You see, that’s what’s so special about Melvins. They manage to tap into the control centre of your emotions and thoughts and ransack the place. Some of these sections really make you feel. Across a few short minutes there’s elation, depression, a headfuck and genuine fear. ‘Revolve’ and ‘Shit Storm’ send your head spinning but the prior is particularly invigorating all the while, a creeping rhythm underpinning a cacophony of melting synths.

‘Youth Of America’ is one of three covers on the release. A take on post-punk band Wipers’ 1981 track, they shovel in extra energy, sass, polish, dirge and evil genius…somehow. God knows how but, compared to the original this is smarter, benefitting from a better, cleaner production all the while being heavier, grittier and more upbeat, more punchy. Its lead guitar line sounds simply enormous and once again has them ransacking your head; its one of those melodies that cuts straight through you. It hurts in the most beautiful way.

While the bass and drum led ‘Missing,’ a cover of Minnesota noise rockers Cows is enjoyable, the spaciousness  of the instrumentation working well to break up the record and giving you room for a breather, their Floyd cover is on another plain of existence entirely. Birthed from 1967’s ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,’ ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ has a decidedly 60s aura to it. It’s amass with frenetic freak outs and trippy, noise warped passages. In short, it’s the perfect template for Melvins to vomit all over, carrots n’ all. It sounds like what the original would were it caught in a homicidal crossfire, explosive, almost bullying musicianship dominating the foray yet never undermining the psychedelic, hippie trippyness of it all.   

Music such as this should be challenging to the point of it being unlistenable and unbearable. But Melvins manage to make it so appealing, so tantalising and addictive. Instead of a sour, unapproachableness, within their horrific, discordant and shrill soundscapes you become immersed, lost with no chance of retracing your steps. So you walk further, venture onwards. No choice but to keep going deeper into the wilderness. This release is the musical embodiment of Stockholm Syndrome. You should hate it really, it’s awful, devilish. But you fall for it, become infatuated with every nuance and nightmarish squeal. Within the eyes of the mad man, of the psycho and of the sleep-deprived, grief stricken scientist you find an odd sense of peace and solace.

Don’t send them the money, I’m happy right here.

Words by: Phil Weller

‘The Bulls & The Bees / Electroretard’ is out now via Itunes and Amazon with vinyl to follow later in the year

For more information:

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