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Dead Cross Skip The Sophomore Slump, Shoot Straight For Legendary Status With II

24 October 2022 By jesse Leave a Comment

You ever buy tickets for a show months and months in advance and by the time the show is scheduled to take place you just don’t feel like leaving your house? This has happened to us on numerous occasions and, as often as we bail on something at the last minute, there are also the times where we rally and are grateful we did. One such time was when Dead Cross hit Boston touring off their debut back in 2017.

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Filed Under: Album Reviews, Music, New Releases, Rock And Roll Fables Tagged With: Dave Lombardo, Dead Cross, II, Ipecac Recordings, Justin Pearson, Michael Crain, Mike Patton, Rock And Roll Fables

King Buzzo goes solo on This Machine Kills Artists!

2 June 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

PromoImage (9)

Worshipped by Nirvana (Thanked by both Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic at Nirvana’s recent HOF induction) and Isis among others, championed by Tool, The Melvins have followed their own rules since day one. Whether bucking trends by incessantly releasing albums whenever they want (Two last year, the trilogy between 1999 and 2000), trading lineup’s every other recording (Melvins (lite) for Freak Puke, 2013’s Tres Cabrones with original drummer Mike Dillard, the Big Business lineup…), or attempting world record-breaking tours (Playing 51 dates in 51 States in 51 days!), The Melvins has only proven that you never know what’s coming next.

Which brings us to the following: the release of mainman Buzz Osborne’s solo album, This Machine Kills Artists. It’s Buzz and a guitar. That’s it. If you’re looking for some metal sludgery or crazy riffage or general zaniness then you’ve come to the wrong place. Probably the most out there thing about This Machine… is how straightforward the album is as a whole.

In any case, it’s really good and shows off yet another side of Osborne. That’s not to say the album is filled with country sing-a-longs or Ryan Adams’ brand of introspective tunage. At the core, This Machine… is still Buzz Osborne being Buzz Osborne albeit a quieter version (sometimes).

Fans of his already will be bopping their heads along immediately when “Dark Brown Teeth” begins the 17-track LP. From there the many faces of Osbourne are on display. “Rough Democracy”  and “The Ripping Driving” are upbeat (For Buzz) little ditties while “Laid Back Walking” is a downtrodden Melvins-esque jam. Throughout the proceedings, Osborne displays his outstanding songwriting which further proves why he’s still one of the most prolific and versatile songwriters today.

If you’re already a Melvins/Buzz Osborne fan then it’s a no-brainer that you should pick this up. For all the rest of you googling “Who is Buzz Osborne?” after Krist Novoselic’s HOF speech, This Machine Kills Artists is your answer.

This Machine Kills Artists is available through Ipecac Recordings on June 3rd. Pre-order it here and be sure to head on over to (the) Melvins FB page to see where you can catch Buzz playing this summer.

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Music, New Releases Tagged With: (the) Melvins, Buzz Osborne, Ipecac Recordings, King Buzzo, Rock And Roll Fables, This Machine Kills Artists

(the) Melvins are back in 2013 (again) with Tres Cabrones

18 November 2013 By jesse Leave a Comment

I’m not sure if there was ever such a thing as a “classic” line up of (the) Melvins because, quite frankly, each and every line up they pop up with is pretty fricking unique and classic in its own right. Nevertheless we now have Tres Cabrones featuring the return of original drummer Mike Dillard thus relegating Dale Crover to bass duties obviously.

Fans of Houdini and Stoner Witch particularly should take note because Tres… is definitely a throwback in some respects especially when the former album is concerned. If Houdini was recorded in 2013 instead of 1993 (Geez, has it really been that long?) it would’ve sounded like this. One listen to the massive “City Dump” will transport you back to the nonsensical thrash sludge of “Honey Bucket” and while we’re on the topic of “nonsensical”, let’s not overlook the “covers” on this beast. Namely “99 Bottles”, “Tie My Pecker to a Tree”, and “In The Army Now” which are a far cry from this year’s Everybody Loves Sausages covers album but fit into Tres Cabrones nicely.

For a 19th studio album, Tres… still sounds just as fresh as (the) Melvins earlier monstrosities and features some of their most accessible stuff to date like “Dogs And Cattle Prods” except for the almost nine minute length. Okay, “accessible” for (the) Melvins then. On the other hand, for every “traditional” song you get like “Doctor Mule” or the punk rock by way of The Ramones “Walter’s Lips” (A Lewd cover, actually, followed by the equally intense cover of “Stick ’em Up Bitch” by King B and Pop o Pies) there’s an “I Told You I was Crazy” waiting around the corner to bring you back down to (the) Melvins version of reality.

Tres Cabrones, a veritable smorgasbord of (the) Melvins-style goodness,  is out now through Ipecac Recordings

Grade: A

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Music, New Releases Tagged With: (the) Melvins, Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, Ipecac Recordings, King Buzzo, Mike Dillard, Rock And Roll Fables, Tres Cabrones

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