Melvins – The Fall of sludge metal – have been going forever, practically, and since the late 90s have upped their productivity levels to a point that it's hard to keep pace with their releases, having now racked up over 40 albums over the course of their career. There's no small irony in this: it took the music establishment and the press a long time to recognise the band and show them some of the respect they were clearly due. But just as the rest of the world caught on, Melvins were heading off on a dozen different tangents, their releases demonstrating an increasing eclecticism and diversity that stretched far beyond the popular tag of progenitors of sludge. Not that they've ever entirely abandoned the grinding, Sabbath at half speed monster riffery, even on their most experimental releases, such as 'Prick' and the collaboration with Lustmord, 'Pigs of the Roman Empire'.
It's for this reason that tracks dredged from way back in the back catalogue, such as 'Eye Flys' from the 'Gluey Porch Treatments' (here as a brain-melting 9-minuter) and closer 'Boris', from 'Bullhead', from which the Japanese noisemongers took their moniker, sit perfectly comfortably alongside middle-era tracks ('Tipping the Lion' from the 1996 album 'Stag') and the more recent numbers (i.e. the remainder of the set: recorded on their 2008 tour, it's composed primarily of tracks from '(A)Senile Animal' and 'Nude With Boots'.
While live albums are notoriously difficult to pull off, Melvins have released more than most bands manage studio albums, with 'Sugar Daddy' being their twelfth if you count their 1986 debut, variously released as 'Six Songs', 'Eight Songs', '10 Songs' and '26 Songs' which was recorded live to two track. 'Sugar Daddy' illustrates precisely why: they're damn good at them, and this is by far the best of the bunch. It can't just be because they're a stonking and intense live act. Perhaps it's because Melvins began as a live band that their live recordings capture the essence of the band so well. Whatever, 'Sugar Daddy' achieves what the very best of live albums do and the rest aspire to: it sounds good, the sound is solid and crisp, and it conveys the force of the performance – complete with twin-drumming power – and works even if you weren't there.
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The album is belting from start to finish, and is the musical equivalent of a bulldozer. It ain't subtle, and it's not quick, but it's got force. The last seconds of 'Dies Israea' is pure Spinal Tap. Check the sustain! Only here, the guitar is plugged in with the amps cranked up to eleven (it's a feat repeated six minutes into 'Eye Flys' and it's easy to imagine the pain it must have caused at the actual gig).
'A History of Bad Men' has oodles of grunt, the bass being enough to shake the bowels even through the crappiest of speakers, and after the brief respite of 'Star Spangled Banner,' the eleven-minute version of 'Boris' is nothing short of megalithic. It pretty much encapsulates everything that's great about Melvins, and however many may attempt to emulate them or draw on them as an influence, they remain a truly unique force.
Moebius Online
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