When a band hits the height of their powers, it’s imperative that they release at least an album a year. Everybody, and surely the Melvins included, knows that this is not their time. The latest in a string of gimmick-based records (the covers album, alternate lineups featuring past-members and collaborators, even an album of guest bass-players), this one is a double-album written to accompany a short-film bearing the same title.
One disc is the conventional Melvins, playing slight derivations of the ‘70s rock-influenced sound they’ve dwelled in over the past ten years. The first two songs are mellow and unrewarding. Playing their wandering riffs with less force and cleaner guitars doesn’t constitute a challenge, to the band or the listener. Dale isn’t pushing himself to do anything particular arresting on the drums, and Buzz’s vocal style has worn tiresome and predictable, to the point that the lyrics themselves are easily ignored.
The best moments are Euthanasia, which has a cool riff and an aurally satisfying guitar climax, and What’s Wrong With You, a good garage-psych diversion. A whole record mining this tangent would be a lot more interesting. The second disc – the score to Jesse Nieminen’s film – is more experimental and works as serviceable ambient music.
