Melvins rambling
we're talking pre-Houdini. I love work from all their eras but the early weird sludge is what I think defines 'em. this ain't a song ranking as such but it works as a compilation that just fits on a CD |
| 1 |  | Melvins
Bullhead
"Boris" - exhausting doom riff with Buzz getting progressively more sad and scared. band runs out of juice two minutes before teh end and performs the last bit lying down. Bullhead is a classic album where every song has a unique point and sorta establishes this weird experimental doomy-grungy-stonery pantheon of song styles by itself |
| 2 |  | Melvins
Joe Preston
"Bricklebrit" - always thought this sounded like instrumental napalm death at like a third of original speed. just one ginormous slow grind riff, really. This EP is pretty suspect cos the centrepiece is a real austere drone piece that bwummms over twenty minutes which means it's very hard to rate and even harder to fit that on a compilation actually. but this tune is pretty essential |
| 3 |  | Melvins
Ozma
"At a Glance" - Ozma's their most maligned record so I am gonna go on and on about it having really great songwriting even if the performance sounds like it was recorded from the other side of the street. Here the Melvins are being conventional with some cool mournful sabbath-y sludge but the beat is still a -thing-. Actually a running theme through all their early stuff is that dale crover's style of drumming makes you rethink riffing music entirely. Rated Ozma 4/5 out of 5 cos the songs are perfect... and too quiet |
| 4 | | Melvins
Bullhead
"If I Had an Exorcism" - a mini-epic of road doom. Amp Worship by Boris contains a gigantic companion piece to this tune |
| 5 |  | Melvins
Gluey Porch Treatments
"Gluey Porch Treatments" - strange beat count on a thrashy tune. with early Melvins you gotta learn to love the idea of a complete song taking place in two minutes or less. Gluey Porch Treatments I rated as a 4 but I think it's worth bumping - songwriting ain't really as good as Ozma but there's more energy to it and it's a longer album without losing steam |
| 6 | | Melvins
Ozma
"Ever Since My Accident" - another weirdo mini epic. the absence of sensible song structure makes it sound like it was played entirely from the hip |
| 7 |  | Melvins
Eggnog
"Hog Leg" - really menacing doom rock-out that just collapses in a novel way, energetic and questionable :))))) Eggnog is the hardest five out of five out of five out of five record in the whole Melvins discography |
| 8 | | Melvins
Ozma
"Raise a Paw" - some of my fave Melvins tunes just feature Buzz playing the same note over and over again. for a short interlude-like bit of rock music it's AMAZING how bizarre this tune is |
| 9 | | Melvins
Gluey Porch Treatments
"Echo / Don't Piece Me" - you can really hear where the "slowpunk" moniker comes from on tunes like this. Melvins sound so shambolic when they get depraved and vice versa |
| 10 | | Melvins
Ozma
"Creepy Smell" - I just love that there's a drum tattoo intro on a two minute song ok |
| 11 |  | Melvins
Lysol
"Roman Bird Dog" - really elementary stonery sludge stuff with a dominant tone going like... C.... F#.... C... C# while Crover sorta has fun with just how weird you can get when all you're doing is hitting something every beat. Lysol is hard to rate because it starts and ends so brilliantly and then it has three really awkward covers in the middle 'L_' like if you jam the first fifteen minutes then walk out the room until With Teeth hits it's the perfect album |
| 12 | | Melvins
Gluey Porch Treatments
"Leeech" - great pummelling noisy doom metal which fades out like a tune you might put halfway through a compilation |
| 13 |  | Melvins
Dale Crover
"Hurter" - a lovely forgotten grunge tune, noisy and inventive and messy. you don't really hear this EP get talked about all that much but it's not awful or anything. all the solo records have something neat on them but nothing exactly essential |
| 14 | | Melvins
Gluey Porch Treatments
"Heater Moves and Eyes" - maybe the best tune on this album. slow and threatening. having watched lots of Melvins live vids at this point I'm fairly done with Eye Flys forever lol |
| 15 | | Melvins
Ozma
"Let God Be Your Gardener" - new things you can do with a guitar and still apparently have it add up to a song |
| 16 | | Melvins
Gluey Porch Treatments
"Flex With You" - teeny tiny punk sludge freakout. just a riff outburst that passes |
| 17 | | Melvins
Bullhead
"It's Shoved" - cutest grunge bass riff of all time |
| 18 |  | Melvins
King Buzzo
"Isabella" - a crescendo piece, no attempt at a song as such. constantly wanna refer to tunes like this cos Melvins latter day music might trick some people into thinking they were always pub sludge ogres. This EP is sort of bad in a lot of ways :-) |
| 19 | | Melvins
Ozma
"Revulsion/We Reach" - really TALL SLUDGE, the classic tune from Ozma |
| 20 | | Melvins
Lysol
"With Teeth" - after a short career in killer punk and sludge they pull out this really dreamy tune. you can float through this one. wars over the lyrics on with teeth seem to rage on but its the one Melvins tune that shouldn't make you fight |
| 21 | | Melvins
(some EP I dunno)
"Anal Satan" - always put a comedy tune before the big finish |
| 22 | | Melvins
Eggnog
"Charmicarmicat" - unmissable sludge drone. amps creak and hiss. puts you automatically into mental lurk mode. the dance steps for this are sway forwards, sway back, stare at the ground and repeat |
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