KU Weekend
The Melvins march on
The masters of metal make their way to Lawrence tonight.
By Mark Martin Photo illustration by Nathan Olson
$ \mathcal{T} $ The Melvins make my head hurt.
The Melvins make me want to break things.
The Melvins make my neighbors hate me.
When listened to at extremely high decibels, the Melvins, a heavy-heavy rock band playing at The Bottleneck tonight, can be either inspiring or horrifying, depending on your musical tastes.
The Melvins were fuzzy, angry and crunchy long before it was cool to be fuzzy, angry and crunchy. They are celebrating their 11th anniversary this year and are touring to promote their second album on the Atlantic Records label. Yes, the Melvins work for a major label.
"Stoner Witch" is a bit different than the slow, hateful grind that the Melvins are known for. In a recent interview, drummer Dale Crover — who usually plays in his
underwear and beats the drums harder than anyone on Earth — said he was happy that "Stoner Witch" was more melodic and offered more variety than past albums.
"It's a great- sounding record," he said from a hotel room in Boise, Idaho. The Melvins have lots of fans in Idaho. "It is more melodic, but it's got a little
noisy bass and wandering, whiny guitar, to the last song, "Lividity," which is old Pink Floyd in a haunted house, the album cries out for loudness and substance abuse.
Crover said that in the past, the band's heavy-slow records, such as their first,"Ozma," or "Bullhead," were more intricate.
"Some of those songs were like working a math problem," he said.
"Now, we're definitely still intricate, but it's a more straight- ahead sound. We
of everything. There's some real heavy stuff, some stuff that's kind of atmospheric and spacey, and there's some stuff that's a little bit loungy."
"Some... songs were like working a math problem. Now... it's a more straight-ahead sound.
Dale Crover
Drummer for the Melvins
From the opening song "Skweetis," with its choppy, marching-band drums, deep,
just like to rock out."
out.
The Melvins are from Washington and sometimes get lumped into that whole Seattle-grunge thing. They've been rocking out since those boys from Stone Temple Pearl-Garden were more high school punks. Crover said his childhood drummer idol was Neil Pert of Rush and that he listened to a lot of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as an impressionable young hipster. While his plan always had been to play music for a live
ing, he said he hadn't considered the Melvins a major-label band even five years ago.
"You used to hear REO Speedwagon and Journey on the radio. Now it's all Pearl Jam and Green Day," he said. "In the '80s, a band like us would have never gotten
on to a major label. But thanks to the Seattle bands, the whole thing has opened up. That's good for us."
Crover said the difference between his band and many other alterna-rockers was that the Melvins were always willing to take chances.
"We're still writing strange stuff," he said. "I like Soundgarden, but their last album seemed like it was all ready to go right onto the radio. We're weird, and that's cool."
As they were doing a sound check for the show, a farmer with a belly full of liquor, either disturbed by the strange rumblings or just drunk, drove his big, American truck into the building.
When asked about memories of Lawrence (they have played here twice before), Crover remembered their first show at the now-dead Outhouse.
Not into the parking lot. Into the building. He drove through a wall, almost killing someone in the bathroom. The band stopped to see what was going on.
The farmer, swaying and slurring, stumbled down from his big.
What: The Melvins, God head Silo, Vitreous Humor
Where: The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
Cost: $8
When: Show starts about 9:30 p.m.
American truck and challenged the band to a fight.
"Any of you faggots want to take me on?" he leered. When he got no takers, the farmer hopped back into his big, American truck and roared off into the sunset.
Later on, the show ended early when a fight broke out and police came and made arrests.
Weird things happen when the Melvins come to town.
Four fun facts about the Melvins
The band's first bassist was the daughter of Shirley Temple.
---
The band was invited to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons' Bowling Birthday Bash, where it shared an alley with Tom and Roseanne Arnold.
Drummer Dale Crover and guitarist/growler King Buzzo are from Aberdeen, Wash., the rockin' little lumber town that also was home to the now-dead Kurt Cobain and the still-alive Chris
-
Dale played the part of the young Neil Young in Young's "Harvest Moon" video. He got to wear a pair of Young's pants.
Events
Tonight
The Melvins, 7 p.m., cover charge, at The Bot tleneck, T37 New Hampshire St.
Common Ground, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Jazz Jam Session, 9:30 p.m., no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe, 809 Massachusetts St.
Aces And Eights, 9:30 p.m., $3, at Cadillac Ranch,
2515 W. Sixth St.
Tomorrow
Marcia Ball; 9:30 p.m. cover charge, at The Grand Emporium, 3832 Main Kansas City, Mo.
Monkey Meet, 10 p.m.
$4, at the Jazzhaus of
Lawrence, 926 1/2 Massa-
husett St.
Punkinhead with Camp Friction Experience, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
The Cats, 10 p.m., $3, at Mulligan's, 1016 Massachusetts St.
Lou's Revenge, 10 p.m. no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe.
Monkey Meet, 10 p.m.
$4, at The Jazzhaus.
Terraplane, 10 p.m., $2,
at Duffy's in the Ramada
Inn, Sixth and Iowa
streets.
Roomful of Blues, 9:30 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Sunday
KKFI Blues Radio Auction/Benefit, featuring seven bands, 9:30 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Monday
Mike Watt with Foo Fighters and Hovercraft, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Acid Jazz, 10 p.m., $2, at Mulligan's.
Dumptruck with Good-
low, 9 p.m., cover charge,
at The Grand Emporium.
1.
Tuesday
The Urge with Sublime,
10 p.m., cover charge, at
The Bottleneck.
Tom's Tuesday Thing, 8 p.m., no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe.
Big Time Sarah, 8 p.m. cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Wednesday
Blueshead Beggars with Renegade Saints, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Open Mike Night, 9:30 p.m., no cover charge, at Mulligan's.
Rick Frydman, 8 p.m., no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe.
Lonnie Ray's Blues Jam 10 p.m., $2, at The Jaz-
haus.
Soukous Stars of Zaire,
9:30 p.m., cover charge, at
The Grand Emporium.
Thursday
Salty Iguanas, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Lee McBee, 10 p.m., $3, at Mulligan's.
Carol Dressler, 9 p.m., no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe.
Cockpit Biscuit with Gospel Porch Singers, 10 p.m., $3, at The Jazzaus.
Culture Under Fire Benefit, featuring Grumpy with Go Kart and Frog Pond, 9 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.