Melvins

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Melvins
Melvins live in concert October 13, 2006 — pictured are Buzz Osborne, Coady Willis, Dale Crover (hidden behind the drums) and Jared Warren from left to right.
Background information
Origin	Montesano, Washington, USA
Genre(s)	Sludge metal[1][2] Hardcore punk[3](early)
Years active	1982–present
Label(s)	C/Z Records Alchemy Records Boner Records Your Choice Records Atlantic Records Amphetamine Reptile Records Man's Ruin Records Ipecac Recordings Alternative Tentacles Slap A Ham Records
Associated acts	Altamont, Fantômas, Porn, The Murder City Devils, Lustmord, Thrones, Nirvana, Big Business,The Cows, Fecal Matter
Website	Official website
Members
Buzz Osborne Dale Crover Jared Warren Coady Willis
Former members
Kevin Rutmanis Mark Deutrom Joe Preston Lori Black Mike Dillard Matt Lukin

Melvins is an American experimental sludge metal band that usually perform as a trio. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne (aka "King Buzzo") and drummer Dale Crover are constant members, but the band has seen several bass guitarists. They have occasionally added a guest or second guitarist for live performances. The band was named after a grocery clerk at a Thriftway in Montesano, Washington where Osborne also worked as a clerk.^[4] "Melvin" was greatly despised by other employees, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.

The Melvins' music is influenced by Black Flag's My War era punk, slow rock acts like Swans, and, most notably Black Sabbath-style metal; however, their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentation make neat categorization difficult. They often favor very slow tempos, and their sludgy sound was a strong influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana, Soundgarden, and many other bands from Seattle. Their protegés, however, tended to use more conventional musical structures with this sound. The Melvins have also influenced many bands, including Tool,^[5] who are personal friends with the band; Crowbar, Mastodon^[6] and Eyehategod,^[7] who participated in a Melvins tribute album, and Boris, who took their name from the title of a Melvins song.

The group has received mostly positive critical notice. Dale Crover's drumming has been especially praised; writer Patrick Kennedy describes his work as "astonishing, powerful, and daring."^[8]

While the band has never found (and probably never sought) mainstream success, the Melvins have a dedicated cult following. They maintain an impressive schedule of new albums and tours, including two releases with former Dead Kennedys front man Jello Biafra. The band has been colloquially known as "Jelvins" during Biafra's tenure with the band.

In appreciation of their devoted fans, the Melvins have released various collectibles throughout the years. These have included two-headed dolls, the Melvins skateboard, The Melvins Fetus!, specially canned Melvins meat, a Zippo lighter, and myriad posters, t-shirts, and one-off fanzines.

The Melvins have been frequently praised by such alternative music legends as Kurt Cobain, Mike Patton, and John Zorn.

[edit] History

[edit] Early days

The Melvins were formed in the early 1980s by Buzz Osborne (guitar/vocals), Matt Lukin (bass) and Mike Dillard (drums) who all went to High School in Montesano, Washington. In the beginning they played The Who and Jimi Hendrix covers, and also began playing fast hardcore punk. When Dillard left the band, Dale Crover joined, and the band's rehearsals moved to a back room of Crover's parents house in Aberdeen, Washington. Soon afterward, they started to play songs slower and "heavier" than nearly anyone else at the time.

Fellow Aberdeen resident Kurt Cobain (a good friend of Crover) was a huge Melvins fan and helped them transport their equipment to a few shows. Cobain also auditioned to join the band on bass, but he didn't make it, reportedly because he was so nervous that he forgot all the songs. Cobain maintained his relation with the band. Later he produced and played on some songs (guitar on "Sky Pup", percussion on "Spread Eagle Beagle") on the band's major label debut, Houdini.

In 1985 C/Z Records was created to document the Washington music scene, the label released Deep Six, featuring four songs by the Melvins. In 1986 the band released their debut, the Six Songs EP, on C/Z Records (later releases expanded and retitled this as 8 Songs, 10 Songs, and eventually 26 Songs in 2003 on Ipecac Recordings). The album was recorded live to a two track at Ironwood, February 8, 1986.

In December of 1986 they recorded their first full-length album, Gluey Porch Treatments, at Studio D in Sausalito, California. The album was released in 1987 on Alchemy Records. Gluey Porch Treatments was later coupled with their second album Ozma for the Boner Records CD release. It was expanded again for the 1999 rerelease on Ipecac Recordings with some garage demos.

Crover played drums with Nirvana when they recorded a ten song demo on January 23, 1988 in Seattle, and played a live show in Tacoma later that day. Later that year Osborne and Crover relocated to San Francisco, California. Lukin stayed and formed the grunge band Mudhoney. Lori "Lorax" Black (daughter of Shirley Temple) replaced Lukin on bass. The band recorded Ozma in May 1989, and released it later that year. The album was produced by Mark Deutrom, who later joined the band on bass.

In August 1990, Nirvana was without a drummer, and Crover helped out by playing on a brief west coast tour with Sonic Youth. Osborne gave Dave Grohl from Scream the phone number of Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic; Grohl later became Nirvana's full-time drummer.

[edit] The early 1990s

In 1990, the band recorded Bullhead, which marked a slower, more drone-oriented style for the band. The band then toured Europe; their January 23, 1991 show in Alzey, Germany was released as Your Choice Live Series Vol.12. When they returned to the U.S., they recorded the Eggnog EP, which was released the same year on Boner Records.

Lorax left the band, and was replaced by Joe Preston. Preston appears on the Salad of a Thousand Delights (1992, Box Dog Video). The Melvins then released three "solo" EPs, following the concept and imitating the cover artwork inspired by the four Kiss members' solo albums released in 1978. King Buzzo, Dale Crover, and Joe Preston were all released in 1992 on Boner Records. Later in 1992, they released the full-length album, Lysol, which had to be renamed Melvins because Lysol was a trademarked name. Preston departed from the band (he is currently in the band Thrones,) and Lorax briefly rejoined.

[edit] The Atlantic years

When Nirvana's Nevermind became a massive, unexpected success, the Melvins were one of many groups to benefit from Nirvana's support. They were signed by Atlantic Records, and their first major label release, 1993's Houdini, entered the Billboard Heatseekers chart at 29. Mark Deutrom replaced Lorax on bass shortly after the albums release.

Gene Simmons of Kiss played bass with Melvins at Lollapalooza in 1993 and 1994 for a full set. He also played bass with the Melvins in 1993 in a concert with Primus, on the song Goin' Blind, a Kiss song that the Melvins had covered on Houdini.^[9]

The Melvins released their second album for Atlantic in 1994, Stoner Witch. However, Atlantic refused to release the band's next album, the experimental, dissonant Prick. The album was released in 1994 on Amphetamine Reptile Records, with the band name written in mirror. They returned to Atlantic one last time for 1996's Stag, which entered the Heatseekers chart at number 33. The band were dropped by Atlantic Records in 1997 after three albums.

[edit] Late 1990s-mid 2000s

The band signed with Amphetamine Reptile, and released their next full-length album, Honky in 1997. They recorded an August 1997 concert in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia as Alive at the F*ckerclub in 1998. The same year, Melvins opened for Tool. (A humorous picture on the Tool website depicts the Melvins along with the words "Melvins say...Tool Sux!" spelled out in lunch meat.^[10] The photo was taken while on tour with Tool in 2002 in Australia. In 1998, the Melvins played the second stage at Ozzfest, along with Motörhead, Incubus, and others.

1999 saw the beginning of a partnership with Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings, which began remastering and reissuing much of the band's back catalog. The band also released three full-length albums dubbed (and later packaged together as) The Trilogy: The Maggot, The Bootlicker, and The Crybaby. The latter featured a number of guest vocalists and musicians. One unexpected highlight was a faithful rendition of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", sung by 1970s teen idol Leif Garrett. Kevin Rutmanis, formerly of The Cows, was bassist during this era.

In 2001, the band returned to their experimental tendencies for Colossus of Destiny, a live set of synthesizer and sampler experiments presented as two tracks (one clocking in at 59:23 and the other at five seconds). The album was described approvingly by one critic as "more like avant-garde electro-acoustic than anything else."^[11]

In 2003 Atlantic Records (UK) released Melvinmania: The Best of the Atlantic Years 1993-1996, a compilation of recycled tracks from the band's three major label releases. This release was unsanctioned by the band who had no input into the track selection or (occasionally inaccurate) liner notes.

In 2004, Osborne and Crover toured to celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band, and also released an art book Neither Here Nor There. The book is a collection of art by creators of their cover art as well as friends of the band, and also contained retrospectives on the past twenty years of Melvins. The book included a CD with selected tracks from their albums.

[edit] Mid 2000s-present

In 2004 Melvins collaborated with ambient artist Lustmord for Pigs of the Roman Empire and with Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra for Never Breathe What You Can't See and Sieg Howdy! released in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Never Breathe What You Can't See was supported by a mini-tour with Jello Biafra and Adam Jones from Tool. A planned European tour was canceled in early October 2004, reportedly due to unknown complications involving Rutmanis. Following the tour cancellation, the Melvins finished the year playing a few shows with David Scott Stone supporting the work of filmmaker Cameron Jamie in Europe and the United States.

When asked about Rutmanis and the canceled portion of the tour, Osborne and Crover stated that Rutmanis had "disappeared". Fans feared that Rutmanis had departed like so many bassists before him; however, Rutmanis returned temporarily in early 2005. In June of 2005, Rutmanis officially left the band with drug abuse rumored as the major cause. When Melvins toured with Jello Biafra in October and November of 2005, David Scott Stone filled in on bass.

We Reach: The Music of the Melvins a tribute album to the Melvins was released by Fractured Transmitter Recording Company in 2005.

In early 2006, Crover confirmed rumors of the members of the band Big Business joining the Melvins. Commenting on adding another drummer, Crover said this about Big Business drummer Coady Willis: "He's left-handed, so we want to do this 'mirror image' type of thing. We've kind of fused our two drum sets together, and we're going to try and do some crazy thing with it. We're sharing these big toms in between us."

The merged bands toured the U.S. in the fall of 2006 in support of their album, (A) Senile Animal.^[12] The Melvins also toured briefly the United Kingdom in mid-December of 2006. Two new songs entitled "Suicide in Progress" and "Billy Fish" have been played during the 2007 tour, and will appear on their upcoming album Nude With Boots.

According to ZU's website, the Melvins and ZU are currently working on a collaboration.

The band has finished working on a new album entitled Nude With Boots which is slated for release in July 2008. Some of the recording sessions have been documented on a Japanese blog by Toshi Kasai. ^[13]

It has been announced that in December 2008 along with Mike Patton, Melvins will co-curate an edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties Nightmare Before Christmas festival. They will choose half of the lineup and also perform.

[edit] Members

[edit] Current members

• Buzz Osborne – electric guitar/vocals (since 1982)

Also known as "King Buzzo". Plays guitar in Fantômas and Venomous Concept.

• Dale Crover – drums/vocals (since 1984)

Founding member of Kurt Cobain's first band, Fecal Matter. Sings and plays guitar in the band Altamont, and drums for the band Porn.

• Coady Willis – drums (since 2006)

Former Member of The Murder City Devils. Plays drums in Big Business.

• Jared Warren – bass guitar/vocals (since 2006)

Former member of Tight Bro's From Way Back, Karp and The Whip. Plays bass and sings in Big Business.

[edit] Additional touring musicians

• David Scott Stone - second guitar, bass guitar
• Adam Jones - second guitar
• Trevor Dunn - bass guitar
• Jello Biafra - vocals (when touring to support their collaborations)

[edit] Former members

• Mike Dillard - drums (1982-1984)
• Matt Lukin - bass guitar (1982-1987)
• Lori "Lorax" Black - bass guitar (1987-1991, 1992)
• Joe Preston - bass guitar (1991-1992)
• Mark Deutrom - bass guitar (1993-1998)
• Kevin Rutmanis - bass guitar (1998-2005)

[edit] Selected discography

See: Melvins discography for the complete Melvins discography.

[edit] References in popular culture

• Beck's song "Beercan" uses a sample from the Melvins' song "Hog Leg", from the Eggnog EP. King Buzzo also appears twice in the music video for the song.
• Anal Cunt poked fun at the connection between Nirvana and the Melvins in their song When I Think of True Punk Rock Bands, I Think of Nirvana and the Melvins
• In a 2007 issue of Total Guitar Magazine, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher selected the Melvins' "Honey Bucket" as a track 'he wished he'd written.'
• Eric Melvin, guitarist for NOFX, has stated that he likes Melvins very much, not just because they share names.^[14]
• The Melvins have High-Top Nike SB Dunks named and designed by them.
• They are referenced twice in the film Juno.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Melvins official website
• Melvins at Allmusic
• Melvins at MySpace
• Melvins at Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Melvins fansite
• Melvins at Ipecac Recordings
• The MelvinsWiki
• Video Interview with The Melvins