You can never justly describe a Melvins release as a ‘return to form’ because whatever Melvins do, the never go off form. However, ‘Tres Cabrones’ sees something approximating the band’s original lineup, with Buzzo and Dale Crover joined by original drummer Mike Dillard at the stool and Crover shifting over to cover bass duties. It’s perhaps for this reason that there’s much of both the spirit and sound of Melvins circa 1983 to be found on this, their sixty-eighth album in 30 years. And while they may be on their 30th anniversary tour, Melvins still refuse to play the nostalgia card, and even with a nod to their past remain staunchly forward-looking. So, hot on the heels of the wild and occasionally whacky covers album, ‘Everybody Loves Sausages’, ‘Tres Cabrones’ find the band in heavy-duty riffing mode on what is a remarkably solid album.
By solid, I mean heavy, sludgy, in the way that only Melvins can be even after all these years and despite the enormity of their influence. And so in this sense, ‘Tres Cabrones’ is ‘vintage’ Melvins, but with three short, silly interlude tracks, it’s also a reminder of the quirky, zany band that really doesn’t play by anyone else’s rules and that simply cannot be confined by genre categorisation – which is no doubt core to their enduring appeal.
First track ‘Dr Mule’ is a hefty slab of psychotic gear-grinding stoner metal, with the emphasis on the psychotic, and the riffs get heavier still on the dense chugger ‘City Dump’. And just when the weight of the monster riffs is building critical mass, they skip in with a country hoedown by way of an interlude. If ‘Tie My Pecker to a Tree’ seems pointless, then you can wager that that’s entirely the point (likewise the rendition of ‘99 Bottles of Beer’ which descends to a looped chant of ‘Beerbeerbeer!’ over an appropriately whacked-out guitar solo).
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It’s immediately followed by the nine-minute ‘Dogs and Cattle Prods’, which is vintage Melvins all the way. ‘I Told You I Was Crazy’ is darkly nightmarish and slower than a funeral march; contrastingly, ‘Walter’s Lips’ is an uptempo punk rocker that nabs the bassline from the Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ as covered by Dinosaur Jr, and the last track, ‘Stick ‘Em Up Bitch’ raises the tempo further, sounding like they can’t get to the end fast enough.
For those who don’t ‘get’ Melvins, ‘Tres Cabrones’ probably isn’t going to help. It’s their loss. For the rest of us, who appreciate that the world is a much better place for their continued presence, ‘Tres Cabrones’ is yet another magnificent addition to an already gleaming – not to mention immense – catalogue. Yes, of course it’s ace.
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