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MELVINS LITE
Freak Puke

Ipecac Recordings (2012)
Rating: 6/10

Melvins Lite is the new offering from the legendary Melvins and despite the twist on the name, it’s really not a ton different than a normal Melvins audio assault. At least not in spirit.

For this project the band consists of mainstays Dale Crover and Buzz Osbourne joined by the legend in his own right Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk etc.). The album is a mix of big garage riffs and odd ambient and experimental pieces that give this the feel of a concept album, even though it’s not.

Melvins Lite throw a bit of a twist at you right out of the gate, with the largely instrumental and oddly sparse offering ‘Mr. Rip-off’. It’s fairly psychedelic and it makes you believe that Melvins Light may be a different beast altogether. The big, ugly rock and roll picks up though with ‘Baby Won’t You Weird Me Out’ and ‘A Growing Disgust’. Both are groove, heavy noisemakers that are pure hearted Melvins offerings.

‘Holy Barbarians’ is another really cool moment that leans more towards what I thought I’d hear on this album. It’s got all the markings of a Trevor Dunn tune and all the atmospheric weirdness of the Melvins. The title track and ‘Leon Versus The Revolution’ are rollicking highlights as well (the latter having a bit of a Primus-feel to it if you imagine Les Claypool’s bass leads on a guitar, and vocally as well, especially in the first third of the song) and the album’s most straightforward moments. I don’t normally expect these kinds of moments from these guys, but it’s a nice change of pace when they offer one up that you can bang your head to from start to finish.

‘Worm Farm Waltz’ gets the award for the album’s strangest track, blending a kind of Who-inspired initial vocal with an angry The Wall-era Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) consistency.

What surprises me the most is how much this reminds me of really, really early Alice Cooper. In specific I’m thinking of a live bootleg I have of the original band at a Canadian festival in their very early years. It just bounces all over the place; and not only from song to song but also within each song. There is a ton going on here, yet Osbourne, Crover and Dunn manage to (mostly) keep your attention by offering groove here and there for you to sink your teeth into. Freak Puke is the kind of album you listen to and wonder what they could possibly do next. Not everything here fires on all cylinders and it certainly lacks the energy you’d expect, but, despite all that, it’s still a pretty interesting listen.

Mark Fisher

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