[Ipecac Recordings, 2012]
The Mevlins, or Melvins-Lite as their press release is dubbing them,
are back with their second record of 2012 (easy boys…) and, as the title
would suggest, it’s a queasy, freaky beast of an album. The
Melvins-Lite moniker heralds the band’s return to being a three piece
and, rather that detract from the band’s almighty
two-drummers-and-as-many-guitarists-as-possible power, the trio have
condensed the Melvins sound into a streamlined force. King Buzzo and
Dale Crover are joined here by Trevor Dunn (of Fantômas and Mr. Bungle
renown) who brings some earthy low-end frequencies and rhythms with his
stand-up bass.
And it’s this new nugget in the Freak Puke stew that most
defines the album’s sound, or differentiates it from some of the band’s
more recent releases. As well as the rootsy, almost jazzy feel that the
double bass lends to songs like “Mr. Rip Off” and “Baby, Won’t You Weird
Me Out”, the instrument also manages to rock pretty hard too. On “A
Growing Disgust” the double bass slots right into the usual Melvins
formula of pompous, strident guitars and Crover’s ever-monumental,
substantial drumming. “Leon vs. The Revolution” is pure classic Melvins
at their rawest – a raucous, three minute blast of old school rock n’
roll. “Let Me Roll It” is an unashamed seventies rock n’ roll pastiche
the likes of which was featured heavily on The Bulls and the Bees EP earlier this year.
The stand up bass also brings an abrasive and experimental new
element into the band’s sound. Dunn alternates between pleasing plucked
notes and aggressive bow-work, adding an almost John Cale-esque layer of
discordant noise to songs like “Mr. Rip Off” and the self-explanatory
“Inner Ear Rupture”. “Holy Barbarians” is the most abstract, moody and
densely layered song on the album and is one of the album’s most
interesting moments because of it. Led by a restless bassline, it kind
of plays like a David Lynch day dream (you can almost picture Audrey
Horne dancing to it in some back-water diner), the creepy, otherworldly
vocals lulling you away to another place before the title track brings
you back with a frying pan to the face, Dale Crover sounding like he’s
playing a set of dustbin lids. He probably is.
Final track “Tommy Goes Beserk” begins like – of all bands – Smashing Pumpkins with the nostalgic vocals and the hints of Siamese Dream-era
strings and mellotron in the background. After picking up momentum and
volume, Tommy finally goes beserk and we’re left with an unsettling
orchestra of ominous low, bowed notes and a scratching of strings that
sounds like a horde of bees. The final minute is a bizarre college of
noises, bordering on musique concrète, and the album comes to its
strange conclusion.
Once again, a change in line-up seems to have done the Melvins a
world of good. As well as providing new avenues for introducing some
light and shade into the mix, the addition of Trevor Dunn on double bass
has reinvigorated the band who sound as playful, experimental and
bombastic as they have been for some time (the band seem to be having a
good old time shouting “fight, fight fight!” at the end of “Leon vs. The
Revolution”). Freak Puke might take a few listens to really
sink in but it’s worth giving it a chance because it stands up as one of
the best albums they’ve released in the past decade.
[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 31/05/2012]
