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Melvins add punch with two drummers

Washington alt-metal band proudly toils on indie circuit

*http://www.newsok.com/article/2972687/
*By Gene Triplett
*The Oklahoman


Two might seem like a crowd to some drummers, but timekeeper Dale Crover
welcomes the company behind the traps in the new Melvins lineup. When it
came time to replace yet another in a long line of bass players, Crover and
singer/guitarist Buzz "King Buzzo" Osborne - the two founding members of
this venerable alt-metal band from Aberdeen, Wash. - decided to fulfill a
long-standing desire for increased percussive firepower. So, when they
approached Jared Warren of Seattle's Big Business to step in on bass, they
borrowed the band's drummer, Coady Willis, as well.

The foursome then proceeded to cut "(A) Senile Animal," the 18th album under
the Melvins banner (not counting live discs), which features the familiar,
menacing, Black Sabbath-inspired sonic sludge of King Buzzo's guitar, now
driven by twin percussive engines of imposing punch. Whether it's the slow
thunder of "Civilized Worm" or "A History of Bad Men," or the heat-lightning
quickness of "A History of Drunks" or "Rat-Faced Granny," Crover and Willis
are always pounding in perfect synch while frequently taking off on
individual rolls and fills of their own that add extra texture to the
proceedings.

"Coady has more of a karate approach, where I'm more of a kung fu man,"
Crover said of their differing styles during a phone interview from the road
last week.

The double-drummer idea dates all the way back to the days when Melvins were
touring as the opening act for another Aberdeen band called Nirvana.

"It was the very last tour that Nirvana did, and we were having Dave Grohl
play drums with us on a few songs, and the next show was going to be him
playing the whole set with us," Crover recalled. "And unfortunately, Kurt
(Cobain) decided he had laryngitis and canceled the rest of the tour."

Melvin/Nirvana ties first began to form in the mid-'80s, when future Nirvana
bassist Krist Novoselic introduced Crover to Osborne. Later, after Melvins
had formed, Osborne introduced Novoselic to drummer-turned-guitarist Cobain.
Even before Nirvana got together, Crover recalls that Cobain and Novoselic
became Melvins disciples, inspired by their grungy, muscular metal sound, as
were several other bands that emerged from the Washington underground.

"I played on (Nirvana's) first demo, too, and that demo is actually spread
out over their first record, 'Bleach,' and 'Incesticide' and the new box
set," Crover said. "A third of the Melvins was in Nirvana, more or less."

Eventually, Nirvana enlisted Grohl as its full-time drummer and went on to
well-documented fame and fortune far greater than Melvins would ever
achieve. After the drug-addicted, manic depressive Cobain took his own life
in April 1994, Osborne and Crover invited Grohl to join their band. But
Grohl already had his heart set on stepping into a spotlight of his own,
which resulted in Foo Fighters.

"He decided he wanted to play guitar," Crover said.

While the Melvins did manage to land a deal with Atlantic Records in the
mid-'90s, their major-label success was short-lived, and Osborne and Crover
are still laboring in the indie leagues after 21 years - and loving it.

"Well, we really like what we do, for one, and we've pretty much burned
every other bridge, so there's nothing else we can do," Crover said with a
deadpan tone to his voice.

He still likes "King Buzzo" enough to hang out with him "even when we're not
doing band stuff. ... We've been friends for a long time.

"And we like to have our band meetings at Disneyland," Crover said. "And the
new guys, they're all for that. They thought that was a pretty good idea. A
pretty good way to start the day is goin' to Disneyland and talkin' about
future music plans and things like that."



[[Category: Melvins Articles 2006]]