Something 4 The Weekend # 174

Melvins: A Senile Animal: "A History Of Drunks" [mp3]

I've got a shit-ton of Melvins in my jukebox, and I could randomly pick just about any given song from any given album of theirs, and the chances are like 87% that it's gonna be an absolute ass-kicker. Sludge. Doom. Punk. Grunge. Hostile Ambient. Fucking Metal. Buzz and Co. (but especially Buzz) got so many tricks up their sleeves, it's hard to choose. Melvins have been cranking for 25+ years now, and dammit if they haven't crept up quite high on my list of favorite bands over the years. And dammit if their last few albums haven't been as good and strong and heavy and fun as any other album in their pocket.

A Senile Animal dates from 2006, and finds King Buzzo and Dale Crover combining forces with the two dudes from Seattle sludge beasts Big Business for a stronger and more versatile version of the band. Melvins are usually a trio (Buzz and Dale and a bassist to be named later) but as a quartet, the heaviness seems limitless. On "A History Of Drunks" they're remarkably light on their feet, so to speak, delivering a trim and complicated boogie of sorts, but still flexing the big beef. Anyways...Tell me these lyrics aren't brilliant and somehow touching in their own way...Go ahead and sing along!

"she helped remove the bullet from my leg
she took the blade, dug them out while I lay screaming
she showed me bloody things and held them in her hand
and said that these were her's and put them in her pocket
I begged her to shoot me in the head
she took my gun and shot my leg instead
the way she held my gun and looked at me with rage
told me that everything was okay and I survived
and now she stays with me, it's crazy but she's mine
she tells me I'm insane because she doesn't lie
she was a-killing me, she left me here to die
and all the ways that worries all right"

Melvins have always been killer, and they're currently killing it, and I see no reason why they won't continue to slay. In their own way, their quietly becoming legendary, an institution, an undeniable force in rock history. A band that looks (sounds) better and better in the rearview.

A band for the ages. In my world, anyways.

Hotcha! Hank