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Review: 'Melvins, The'
'Basses Loaded'   

-  Album: 'Basses Loaded' -  Label: 'Ipecac Recordings'
-  Genre: 'Rock' -  Release Date: '3rd June 2016'

Our Rating:
The Melvins don’t only define the term ‘prodigious output’ but are a band who’ve had almost as many different lineups as The Damned or The Fall. So the fact that ‘Basses Loaded’ lands but weeks after Sub Pop release Mike and the Melvins’ ‘Three Men and a Baby’, and features a very different lineup is pretty much as you might expect. But six bassists? Is that some kind of a record?

For this outing, core Melvins Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover are joined by Krist Novoselic of Nirvana legend (it’s nice to see his name instead as a guest artist on an album instead of Dave Grohl for a change – not that you’re likely to find Dave on a Melvins record), Redd Kross’ Steve McDonald, Butthole Surfer J.D. Pinkus, Big Business’ Jared Warren, Mr. Bungle/Fantomas’ Trevor Dunn (aka Melvins Lite), and Crover swaps the drum kit for bass in the Melvins 1983 iteration.

As Melvins albums go, ‘Bases Loaded’ is remarkably accessible, commercial rock songs that place a lot of emphasis not only on harmony, but also melody. ‘Coco Plumbing’ has many of the hallmarks of vintage US rock in the vein of Golden Earring and Cheap Trick. There’s a lot of boogie and bounce. Despite releasing covers album ‘Everybody Loves Sausages’ not so very long ago, their reserve of covers is far from drained, and their take on The Beatles’ I Wanted to Tell You’ is another indicator of the focus on melodic pop tunes on ‘Basses Loaded’. And, of course, their take on ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ continues the baseball theme of the album’s title.

‘Captain Come Down’, which features J.D. Pinkus is the first track – and one of the few –
to showcase the classic overloading sludge riffage Melvins are renowned for, and hints at ‘Hooch’ from ‘Houdini’, before careering off into a frenzy of noise that’s as much Buttholes as it is Melvins. And yes, it is great, as is the Neil Young-like ‘Planet Destructo’ with Trevor Dunn. ‘Shaving Cream’, recorded with Dale Crover on bass, i.e. the Melvins 1983 line-up, isn’t as great, being a take on ‘My Body Lies Over the Ocean’ with different words, with some oopmpah brass and a looped refrain of ‘shit’, but with Melvins you learn to take the rough with the smooth, and without the daft, gimmicky interludes, it simply wouldn’t be Melvins.

One thing that stands out on this album isn’t the bass playing per se, and that’s actually a good thing, in that it’s not an album that’s all about the bass and no one aspect of the band and their ever-rotating lineup dominates. In other words, it’s very much an album that’s about collaboration, and about songs rather than personalities, and which evidences that no matter what the lineup, Melvins will always be Melvins. In fact, this is true of the band generally: the ever-shifting membership is integral to their remaining fresh. So, this is a Melvins album – and it’s time to get loaded!

Melvins Online

  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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Melvins, The - Basses Loaded