Melvins - Nude With Boots
Ipecac Recordings
Experimental Hard Rock, Sludge Metal
11 songs (42:15)
Release year: 2008
Melvins, Ipecac Recordings
Reviewed by Goat

Defining who and what exactly Melvins are is a challenge – having been in existence for the last twenty-five years, the band has seen most of the major changes in the music world come and go. Despite once having been friends with Kurt Cobain – even having him help-produce on 1993’s classic Houdini album – the band has never gotten past their ‘cult’ tag and made it in the mainstream world. Although the shitty likes of Juno may try and reference the band in the name of cool, the Melvins are above it – they seem to have survived by appealing to that small cross-section of society that digs the sound of men with strange hair rocking out. Nude With Boots is the band’s twentieth full-length, and it’s fair to say that it won’t be the album that gets the band mainstream recognition in any significant fashion, despite a respectable amount of out-rocking. Where previous album (A) Senile Animal was accessible and very catchy, Nude With Boots is a giant step back into the quirk of the band’s earlier days, with everything from a step into the Avant-Garde and Ambient realms in terms of song structure, to Dies Iraea, a Droning cover of the main theme from The Shining.

As on (A) Senile Animal, the long-term line-up of King Buzzo on guitars and Dale Crover on drums is joined by the Big Business duo of Jared Warren and Coady Willis on bass and drums respectively. Yes, Melvins have two drummers, and although they rarely go into the freak-out percussion of before, the effect is still enough to make this subtly special. The songs themselves are like 70s Rock crossed with 80s Post-Punk crossed with 90s Sludge Metal, the band truly in a genre of their own. As ever, each Melvins album has a style and essence all of its own, and Nude With Boots has a distinctly relaxed, chilled-out feel that makes it the perfect ‘lay-back-and-space-out’ listen. Weird little interludes like Flush somehow fit in with the hard riffers, and the likes of The Stupid Creep work even better as a result. Of course, those riffs are pretty damn hard; this is still about as far away from mainstream rock as you can get, and songs like The Savage Hippy practically throb with attitude.

Although this may sound like fanboy bleating, it is quite amazing just how involving the initially difficult tracks like It Tastes Better Than The Truth are with time. As for immediate, wonderfully catchy songs like The Kicking Machine and Suicide In Progress, it’s simply impossible not to be reminded of the reasons that you fell in love with the band in the first place – simply, they’re awesome, and it’s hard to say that about the majority of music in these modern times. Bands may come and bands may go, but Melvins are eternal, purveyors of a unique craft that will doubtlessly be spoken of in hushed, respectful terms for many years to come. If you’re new to the band, then (A) Senile Animal will be an easier way in, but once you get hooked, you’ll be helpless. It’s Melvins, for goodness’ sake – how can anyone not like them?

MySpace
Killing Songs :
The Kicking Machine, Billy Fish, Dog Island, Suicide In Progress, The Smiling Cobra, Nude With Boots, The Savage Hippy
Goat quoted 87 / 100
Other albums by Melvins that we have reviewed:
Melvins - Everybody Loves Sausages reviewed by Goat and quoted no quote
Melvins - Freak Puke reviewed by Goat and quoted 74 / 100
Melvins - Stag reviewed by Crash and quoted 86 / 100
Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder reviewed by Goat and quoted 83 / 100
Melvins - Lysol reviewed by Phil and quoted no quote
To see all 7 reviews click here
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