Melvins
The Melvins were founded in 1984 in Seattle as a punk rock group, named after a fellow who was caught stealing Christmas trees. They now have their own very distinctive sound, which ranges from impossibly ugly metal to frantic psychobilly riffage. The Melvins' sludge was inspirational to the band Nirvana and many other Seattle-area bands, around 1988; the younger bands took the Black Sabbath-styled heaviness of the Melvins and added more elements of pop song structure, which the group tended to lack. Fans of the Melvins tend to not care so much about the pop hooks.
While all of their disciples became famous after Nirvana broke big in 1991 (including Mudhoney, who featured former Melvins bassist, Matt Lukin), the Melvins only expanded their cult slightly. In addition to their Melvins activities, Buzz Osborne joined Mike Patton (and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn) for the experimental outfit Fantômas, resulting in a pair of releases thus far (1999's Fantômas debut and 2001's The Director's Cut), while the Melvins' latest bassist, Kevin Rutmanis, joined Mike Patton in another side project, Tomahawk.
The Melvins also display a sense of humor not often seen in the too-serious music of today. Examples include their two-track Colossus of Destiny, which was a live set of synthesizer and sampler experimentation and one song. Other examples include their other album titles, as well as their candor at live performances. Live antics include King Buzzo asking the crowd at a concert the question "Were you guys as suprised as I was to find out Rob Zombie was gay?"
In 2004, the Melvins toured to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and also released their art book Neither Here Nor There. The book is a collection of art by creators of their cover art as well as friends of the band, and also contained retrospectives on the past twenty years of the Melvins. The book also included a CD with a selected tracks from their albums.
More recently, the Melvins have collaborated with ambient artist Lustmord and Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra for two different albums, the first being Pigs of the Roman Empire, the second Never Breathe What You Can't See, to be released in the second half of 2004. The two pairings brought a level of anticipation not seen since 1999's guest starring of Leif Garrett for the a cover of Smells like Teen Spirit, by Nirvana.
