Details

Today (4/20) marks the official release date for Pinkus Abortion Technician, the new Melvins album featuring both Steven McDonald and Jeff Pinkus on bass! The Melvins bandcamp page has the new album available for streaming/digital download and I've embedded it below. You can pick up the CD/T-shirt bundle the band is offering at their official Revolve merch site. Amphetamine Reptile Records will be announcing details of the vinyl release within the next week or so, check out the album art below by HAZE XXL and be sure to follow them on facebook to stay on top of those details as the release will be limited.

 The band also released a new music video directed by Ava Hazelmyer for "Don't Forget to Breathe" track 3 off the album. “We’re very excited to have a video for our song ‘Don’t Forget To Breathe,” directed by the hyper-talented Ava Hazelmyer. Hopefully there will be more collaborations with her in the future,” said Buzz Osborne.

“I like to make scenes devoid of context or overt meaning, explained Hazelmyer (www.avahazelmyer.com). “I like taking everyday things and dropping them into an absurd setting. I like the idea of something being experienced without any preconceived notions or connections.”

Pinkus Abortion Technician linocut cover art by HAZE XXL

Revolver asked Buzz to share his "10 Albums That Made Me" and he also talked a little bit about Pinkus Abortion Technician, he had this to say about working with both Steven and Jeff - "These guys are world-class players. They're as good as anybody out there. They're better, because they have better sensibilities. All the stuff that I can get from Jeff's involvement in the Butthole Surfers and Steven's involvement in Redd Kross, I want that in my band. I want all that weirdness and all that sickness and all that insanity."

Steven was recently interviewed by the Vinyl Guide, "Steven Shane McDonald has been in punk rock bands since age 10, opening for Black Flag before he was old enough to drive. Today he shares those early stories, the formation and evolution of Redd Kross, his virtual collaboration with the White Stripes, playing w Melvins, their new LP & what's next for his other bands."


The band hits the road in the U.S. on 4/26, check the tour dates page to see when they'll be near you!

Details

Today the band released a new video directed by Mackie Osborne for the 2nd track from the forthcoming (4/20) album Pinkus Abortion Technician! “’Embrace The Rub’ is a Steven McDonald penned, punker tune throwback to his days as a young Hawthorne, CA punk hanging out with Black Flag,” Dale Crover explained in a press release. “For some reason, I decided that this tune really needed a piano part.”

 Buzz worked with Hilbish Design to create a new guitar effects pedal, The Pessimiser! "This collaboration pedal was developed and designed with the Melvin’s King Buzzo, to capture his unique distortion tones spanning his entire career. The Pessimiser features a wide range 3-band active EQ, with the ability to boost and cut. The Boost control goes from light overdrive to over the top fuzz. The Mix control lets you go from completely clean tones to full on distortion, and everything in between. The Blast control controls your volume, dipshit. Use it on guitar, bass, synth, or as a studio effect." 

This first edition of 150 pedals are hand built in Lynchburg, Virginia by Hilbish Design. Orders will ship in May 2018 or pick one up from the band's merch table this spring while they're on tour!


Poster art by Jason Young

Details

Today the Melvins announced Pinkus Abortion Technician their next album, which will feature both Steven McDonald and Jeff Pinkus on bass simultaneously! The album is scheduled to be released on April 20th via Ipecac Recordings. In addition to that, they've also released the dates for their U.S. tour which begins in late April, check out the tour dates below.

"With our upcoming release, we double your bass player with Steven McDonald and Jeff Pinkus holding down the bottom," explains Dale Crover. "It's an experiment in the low end of the aural spectrum where we asked ourselves, 'Would it work?' 'Could it work??' 'Should it work???' The answers were yes, yes and YES!"

"We've never had two bass players," adds Buzz Osborne. "We've had two drummers and two guitar players, so it makes total sense to now have two bass players. We'll be taking this two-prong bass attack on the road as well which should prove to be interesting. 'Pinkus Abortion Technician' is a radically great record and was a stone groove to record. We drank a lot of coffee and enjoyed each other's company. I like Steven and Jeff a great deal. I admire their bass playing and singing and both of them can grill a mean steak."

"Pinkus Abortion Technician" track listing:

  1. Stop Moving To Florida
  2. Embrace The Rub
  3. Don't Forget To Breathe
  4. Flamboyant Duck
  5. Break Bread
  6. I Want To Hold Your Hand
  7. Prenup Butter
  8. Graveyard

"Stop Moving To Florida" is a medley of the James Gang's "Stop" and BUTTHOLE SURFERS' "Moving To Florida", the band also covers THE BEATLES' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and BUTTHOLE SURFERS' "Graveyard" on the eight-song release. Pre-orders will be announced soon.

2018 U.S. Tour Dates
April 26 San Diego, CA Casbah
April 27 Tucson, AZ The Rock
April 29 Dallas, TX Tree’s
April 30 Austin, TX Mohawk
May 1 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall
May 3 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
May 4 Birmingham, AL Zydeco
May 6 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theater
May 7 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
May 9 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
May 10 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
May 11 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw
May 12 Hamden, CT Space Ballroom
May 13 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
May 14 Montreal, QC Corona Theatre
May 18 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
May 19 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theater
May 20 Louisville, KY Headliner’s Music Hall
May 22 Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley
May 23 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone
May 24 St. Louis, MO The Ready Room
May 25 Kansas City, MO Record Bar
May 26 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom
May 27 Norman, OK Opolis
May 29 Santa Fe, NM Meow Wolf
May 30 Flagstaff, AZ The Green Room
May 31 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
July 12 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
July 13 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
July 14 Fresno, CA Strummer’s
July 16 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
July 17 Sacramento, CA Holy Diver
July 19 Seattle, WA Neumo’s
July 20 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
July 21 Vancouver, BC Venue Nightclub
July 24 Edmonton, AB Union Hall
July 25 Calgary, AB Marquee Room
July 27 Winnipeg, MB Pyramid Cabaret
July 28 Fargo, ND The Aquarium (Dempsey’s Upstairs)
July 29 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
July 30 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
July 31 Chicago, IL Park West
August 2 Grand Rapids, MI The Pyramid Scheme
August 3 Detroit, MI El Club
August 4 Columbus, OH A&R Music Bar
August 5 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue Theatre
August 6 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Company
August 7 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
August 8 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
August 10 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
August 11 Ft. Collins, CO Aggie Theatre
August 13 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
August 14 Las Vegas, NV The Bunkhouse Saloon

Details

Today marks the official release date of Dale's new solo effort "The Fickle Finger of Fate" via Joyful Noise Recordings. Check out the stream of the album below from their bandcamp, you can order the album directly from the label at their store. Hopefully Dale can perform some of this material live at some point but of course he's pretty busy for the next handful of months with all the Melvins touring going on at the moment. Speaking of which, he'll be pulling double duty on the European and Australian dates while he drums for Redd Kross as well. Dale also did a really fun music video that you need to check out for the track "Bad Move" which is a parody of Paul McCartney's video for "Coming Up".

What would you say fuels your more melodic sensibilities? "Oh, gosh, I don't know. Cheap Trick? Beatles? Any of that stuff. Beatles, I suppose. That was probably one of the first bands I was ever into, as cliché as that sounds. I grew up on the Beatles and the Monkees. Obviously, Neil Young has always been a big influence. I think one of the songs came out sounding more like Neil Young than I had planned [laughs]. I dunno, I've always liked melodic music. I don't just listen to Venom and Slayer [laughs]. Though those are influences, too." - Dale via Rolling Stone

Details

A Walk With Love and Death, the first ever double album by the Melvins is officially out today on Ipecac! As previously mentioned when the album was announced, the release is split into two parts: "Death, a proper Melvins’ release and Love, the score to the Jesse Nieminen directed, self-produced short also titled A Walk With Love & Death" The album is also the first to include Steven McDonald handling the bass duties throughout, he previously appeared on Basses Loaded and you've hopefully seem him on tour with the band over the past year or so. Speaking of which, Melvins are out on the road in the U.S. at the moment supporting the new album and dates for both Europe and Australia for later in the year can be viewed below!

"I think it came out really good. The whole thing together is a really cool thing. Nobody else has done anything quite like it. When you're thinking of it in terms of film, what do you want it to do? We basically made one the way we want to do one -- it's nothing to be comfortable. If you add weirdness to it, it's going to be even more weird. We're big fans of stuff like Holy Mountain and David Lynch -- I’m a big movie fan, so I like all kinds of stuff." - Buzz via NBC San Diego

Utech Records recently announced that they'll be releasing an extremely limited cassette version of A Walk With Love and Death. 
MELVINS "A Walk With Love and Death" 2CS
Two goddamn tapes! One is a soundtrack!
Edition of 125 double cassettes presented in a side-by-side case with fold out insert and art by Mackie Osborne. Milwaukee Cassette Works edition for Melvins Mega Monster Hyper Limited.
Available at the Melvins live shows starting July 24 in Milwaukee, WI and online via Milwaukee Cassette Works, July 25 at 12 NOON CST.


Bash 17 is just around the corner and like years past AmRep has plenty of cool new limited edition vinyl coming out at the event. This includes the recently reissued solo albums from Boner Records, only these will have special linocut art by HAZE XXL along with pretty colored vinyl, and in addition to that a new Steven solo record will also be released! There will also be a compilation 10" that not only includes Melvins, but also Cherubs, Whores, Mudhoney, the Blind Shake, and Lydia Lunch!

Details

Dale Crover recently announced that on August 4th he'll be releasing his solo album "The Fickle Finger of Fate" on Joyful Noise Recordings! Rolling Stone premiered "Little Brother" off the album and also interviewed Dale about the project. Joyful Noise has the album up for pre-order now so act fast to get the special colored vinyl variants!

Introducing, the debut solo album from the enigmatic legend that is Dale Crover. Amongst his 30+ year career as one half of the essential Melvins roster, Crover has contributed to countless albums ranging from platinum-plated classics (ahem, Nirvana) to seminal cult LPs. However, up until this point Crover's solo efforts have only appeared once in a blood moon, limited to the Melvins 1992 KISS-themed solo EP, and a couple intermittent 7" releases. The Fickle Finger Of Fate marks Crover's first calculated, full length solo effort.

But let's be clear: this is not a drum record. The album features a perplexingly diverse batch of songs that recall the best moments of the Melvins catalog. With 90% of all instruments played by Crover, and recorded by longtime engineer Toshi Kasai, the album is sure to tickle the temporal lobes of Melvins devotees.

Sonically, the album ranges from slightly microwaved heaviness, to surprisingly chill Pink Floyd-tinged ballads, to Max Roach-meets-Throbbing-Gristle drum experimentations, to good old fashioned Andy Kaufman-style head-fuckery.

Though consistently otherworldly, The Fickle Finger Of Fate is surprisingly approachable— dare we say, catchy. But even at it's most anthemic, you won't be able to shake the feeling that a sinister ambience is hovering just beneath the surface.

 

"I think the Joyful Noise guy had a good description which was, uh, it was like Elvin Jones–meets–Throbbing Gristle. ... I'd like to be able to play this stuff live at some point. I actually talked about it with the Joyful Noise guys. We'll see what happens. Either I have to find some players or try to be a one-man-band. I suppose I could go out and play acoustic guitar if I really had to, but it'd be much more fun to have the drums involved and players, you know. I gotta get my daughter up to speed." - Crover

Fickle Finger Of Fate tracklist:

  1. Chicken Ala King
  2. Bad Move
  3. The Members Bounce
  4. None, No More
  5. Hillbilly Math
  6. String Bean
  7. The Short Con
  8. Little Brother
  9. Tiny Sound
  10. Slide On Up
  11. Big Uns
  12. Prismo
  13. Giant Hunka Cake
  14. Fickle Finger of Fate
  15. Thunder Pinky
  16. Horse Pills
  17. There Goes The Neighborhood
  18. Our Supreme Leader
  19. I Found The Way Out
  20. Vulnavia

 

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