The Melvins

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The Melvins are a rock music group founded in 1984 in Aberdeen, Washington, named after a fellow who was caught stealing Christmas trees. The Melvins have usually been a trio, with singer/guitarist "King Buzzo" and drummer Dale Crover being constant; several bass guitarists have been through the group.

The Melvins' music is rooted in post-punk and Black Sabbath-style metal, but their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentalist bent make neat categorization difficult. The Melvins' often favor rather slow tempi, and their sludgey sound was a prime influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana and many other Seattle-area bands; their protegees, however, tended to add more convetional pop music-structure.

While never finding--or probably even seeking--any appreaciable mainstream success, the Melvins maintain an impressive schedule of new albums and tours, and have a dedicated cult following.

History

The Melvins formed in 1984, with Matt Lukin on bass guitar. They began gigging and recorded a few singles and e.p.'s. Lukin remained through the first proper Melvins album Gluey Porch Treatment, before leaving to form Mudhoney.

Kurt Cobain was a great Melvins fan, almost from the group's inception. He sometimes acted as roadie for the group, (Crover would later occasionally record and perform with Nirvava) and would later champion the Melvins' music.

In the late 1980's, the Melvins relocated to San Fransisco, and recruited a new bassist: Lori Black (a.k.a. "Lorax"), daughter of Shirley Temple.

When Nirvana's Nevermind became a massive, unexpected success, the Melvins were one of many groups to benefit from Nirvana's support: Atlantic Records offered the Melvins a three-album contract; their first Atlantic release was 1993's Houdini. Mark Deutrom was bassist in this period.

1999 saw the beginning of a partnership with Mike Patton's Ipecac Records, which, in addition to releasing new Melvins albums, began remastering and reissuing much of the Melvins' discography. The Crybaby, their first Ipecac release, saw a number of singers and admierers guesting on most songs; an unexpected highlight was an oddly touching rendition of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", sung by 1970's teen idol Leif Garrett. Kevin Rutmanis, formerly of Cows, was bassist during this era, and remains the current Melvins bassist.

Examples of Melvins' experimentalist tendencies include Colossus of Destiny, a live set of synthesizer and sampler experimentation presented as two long tracks, and described approvingly by one critic as "More like avant-garde electro-acoustic than anything else." [1] Other examples of their warped humor include their album and song titles, as well as their candor at live performances. Live antics include King Buzzo asking the crowd at a concert the question "Were you guys as suprised as I was to find out Rob Zombie was gay?"

In 2004, the Melvins toured to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and also released their art book Neither Here Nor There. The book is a collection of art by creators of their cover art as well as friends of the band, and also contained retrospectives on the past twenty years of the Melvins. The book also included a CD with a selected tracks from their albums.

More recently, the Melvins have collaborated with ambient artist Lustmord for Pigs of the Roman Empire and with Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra for Never Breathe What You Can't See, to be released in the second half of 2004. Both releases were highly anticipated by fans.

Side Projects

In addition to their Melvins activities, Buzz Osborne joined Mike Patton (and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn) for the experimental outfit Fantômas, resulting so far in three releases (1999's Fantômas debut, 2001's The Director's Cut and`2004's Delerium Chordia), while Rutmanis joined Mike Patton in another side project, Tomahawk.

Osborne and Crover are fond of KISS, and in the late 1980's, each Melvin released a "solo" album, modeled after KISS