Band celebrates 40 years of doing whatever the hell they want
Melvins have been flying the flag of experimental and sludge rock and, consequently, have released 26 full-lengths albums. Additionally, they’ve released countless EPs and live and compilation records.
At its core, Melvins is Buzz Osborne (guitar and vocals) and Dale Crover (drums), along with a seemingly never-ending slew of bass players. Redd Kross bassist, Steven Shane McDonald, has been with the band for eight years and will, hopefully, soon outlast all his predecessors.
The band’s current U.S. tour with Japanese noise merchants, Boris, is dubbed the “Twins of Evil Tour.” The current run of shows finds Melvins playing their 1991 ‘Bullhead’ record in its entirety, among other surprises from its massive catalog. Similarly, Boris plays their 2002 release, “Heavy Rocks,” in full. The seven-week tour commences on August 24th in Los Angeles and closes out on October 14th in San Diego.
Could anyone have predicted that Boris and the Melvins would tour the entire USA together? Since the mid-1980s, the Melvins have had an enormous influence on artists of all genres, not only limited to heavy music, and have brought forth a surge of faithful followers over the years.
Needless to say, Boris is just one of these many bands influenced by the mighty Melvins, and we took our name from a song title off of the 1991 album, ‘Bullhead,’ said Boris’ Takeshi about the obvious ties between the two bands.
For the uninitiated, Melvins earned their fanbase through college radio, word-of-mouth, and constant touring. Likewise, they’ve released albums on such disparate record labels as Boner, Alchemy, C/Z, Alternative Tentacles, Slap-A-Ham, Man’s Ruin, Ipecac, and Atlantic. Their latest album, “Bad Moon Rising,” was released on indie Amphetamine Reptile, which have had a long history with the band.
Perhaps one of the band’s strangest periods was their Atlantic records years, which saw the band reap the benefits of being name-dropped by close friend Kurt Cobain. After playing countless shows supporting Nirvana, they released three WEA-distributed records — “Houdini,” “Stoner Witch,” and “Stag.” Even though they had elements of “grunge,” Melvins’ already impossible-to-pigeonhole sound eventually worked against them and they were subsequently dropped from their only major label deal.
Melvins and Boris, along with opener Mr. Phylzzz, perform Tuesday, August 29 at The Mystic Theatre, 23 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma.
Doors open at 7 pm and the all-ages show kicks off at 8 pm. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 the day of the show and can be purchased at mystictheatre.com. Come witness the magic of two bands who defy the laws of musical composition.
