One year in college I was working at the radio station and I was assigned to play a 3 hour rock block of the Melvins. I relived that memory last night, except in technicolor. Sonically their original sound blisters your soul. It is good, articulate rock and roll with a middle finger directed straight toward the upper class. All with such bad ass style that keeps people coming back again and again for more loud, destructive art.Buzz and Dale may be the founders however it is definitely a sum of the parts. These are not the Melvins I was introduced to almost 20 years ago. They have evolved into a hard-rocking machine that draws from everyone in the band. A prime example of that is the utilization of all their voices, building dynamics through a song...let alone their "Stripes Inspired" chants. The addition of another drummer hits you harder across the face, and let's just face it....it is completely showing off. Two mo' fo' bad ass drummers that played a long night last night, filling in for the opening band Unsane, due to their drummer having a hip injury. Go figure that this too was a hard hitting set. I had heard of these guys back in the 90s, but some bands just never got a good listen during those pre-internet days. I was really glad to experience them the way the need to be experienced; live and in
person. So heavy and hard but with the beautiful juxtaposition of sweet Fender Tone! Yes, you heard me right. The guitarist rocked a Tele (which looked pretty damn stock) hard into what appeared to be a late 60s Fender Dual Showman. A true workhorse of an amp and this guy gave it a good run for it's money. They had an interesting touch of blues too. Definitely the most over-the-top, hard-rocking blues I have ever seem. Anybody who busts out a metal slide and harmonica loves the blues. And it was very apparent last night. A really unique sound. I don't know what else to say about Unsane, except- 1) I need to do a little more research on the and 2) Go see them Live!Both bands cannot really be truly captured and appreciated recorded. Why? Because what they do cannot be spliced together inside a computer or on analog tape and then spit out. They do their work on their instruments and in front of a crowd. And that is why I keep coming out to see it.
Still, I must include a sampling of this onslaught at the Blank Club last night:
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