A well curated covers release can often be fun, but such things rarely come with such a scattershot selection of influences as Blazoner’s ‘Sonic Chambers’. An EP that started out life purely by accident actually plays like a short CV of the US rock band’s chief interests, taking in material by artists as diverse as The Rolling Stones and (the) Melvins.
Tag Archives: melvins
THE REAL GONE ADVENT CALENDAR 2024
It’s that time of year again! …And it seems to come around faster every year.
MELVINS – At The Stake: Atlantic Recordings 1993-1995
After Geffen Records scored an unexpected commercial and financial success with Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ album in 1991, other major labels began to scour the Seattle area, convinced that the city and its surrounding towns would result in a similar brand of ‘Teen Spirit’. By 1993, around the time that Seattle Fever had reached its peak, pretty much every band who’d been name checked by Kurt Cobain or other important figures had made the leap from indie cool to bigger things. Even supposed second division acts like Tad found themselves signed to major contracts. Looking back, it could be argued that a lot of these bands didn’t quite have the impact the labels had desired, but these major deals certainly elevated their profiles.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – A Future Of Bad Men: A Melvins Tribute
Few bands have been more influential to the alternative scene than (the) Melvins. Since their arrival in the early eighties, the noisemakers from Washington have forged an uncompromising musical path which has inspired punk and doom metal bands alike. They’ve encouraged many to twist the elements of rock music into unfathomable shapes. Their early work laid the formations for what many consider “grunge”. Somehow, in the mid 90s, they even managed to score a recording deal with a major label, which inspired them to become even more obtuse, first releasing a single that had a lyric in a made up language (‘Hooch’) and promote a slightly later release with a track that included a drawling vocal, a sludge metal riff and an atonal jazz solo played on the trombone. Even more bizarrely, that single (‘Bar-X The Rocking M’) even had its video shown on MTV. The Melvins’ career has taken many forms, and it’s rarely been pretty, but it has never, ever been dull.
MELVINS – Live At Hellfest 2011
Anyone who has ever seen the Melvins at any point will tell you they put on an amazing live show. Their sledgehammer sound is arguably at its most effective when delivered at full volume in front of an intense crowd, but the opportunity to watch drummer Dale Crover at work makes for a brilliant experience in itself.