The Bar

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1. The Kicking Machine
2. Billy Fish
3. Dog Island
4. Dies Iraea
5. Suicide In Progress
6. The Smiling Cobra
7. Nude With Boots
8. Flush
9. The Stupid Creep
10. The Savage Hippy
11. It Tastes Better Than The Truth

Official Bar Score: 

The Melvins have been doing what they do best for well over twenty years and in that time have managed to release over 20 albums between full lengths, splits, and collaborations. There’s something to be said about a band lasting as long as they have without almost no commercial promotion, with the exception of a brief stint on a major label during the height of grunge and a random mention on Juno.

As for their signing to a major label, their early affiliation with Kurt Cobain (who once auditioned to be the band’s bassist and would later play drums on one of their classic albums Houdini) had the band lumped in with the grunge genre, something they very much are not.

So what exactly do the Melvins play? Whatever the hell they want for the most part. They’ve released pure rockers, stoner doom songs, pure noise, jam songs, etc. The Melvins have always made a habit of not following trends yet still managed to evolve with times. Their diverse musical styles is what has landed them praise from metal bands to rock bands to grind bands to noise bands.

In their most recent attempt to evolve the band released their previous album (a) Senile Animal after adding Jared Warren and Coady Willis of the band Big Business. This added a new dynamic to the band’s sound as Coady Willis adds a second drummer to the lineup and Coady Willis becomes a hopefully more full time bassist as well as bringing his trademark vocal style in as a second vocalist. This isn’t a gimmick though as the band makes use of both as Coady and King Buzzo trade vocal duties off throughout songs and the dual drumming attack is something that needs to be heard to be appreciated. (See the last minute of Dog Island)

That brings us up to speed to the new disc. While (a) Senile Animal was an album that critics loved and was aimed at a more mainstream friendly Melvins fan (if such thing exists), Nude with Boots goes back to the band’s more experimental jam band roots. While there are pure rock songs such as the Kicking Machine, the very catchy Billy Fish, Suicide in Progress and even The Smiling Cobra.

On the other side of the coin you get songs like the over seven minute Dog Island which features four minutes of jamming before you hear the first vocal, to the title track, to the abrasive It Tastes Better than the Truth, all which remind some just how crazy the Melvins can be at times.

As a whole Nude With Boots just barely falls short of (a) Senile Animal and will definitely take more than one listen for it’s contents to truly sink in but what you’ll be left with is another great album by a great band.

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