The dissection, absorption, listening to and (hopefully) eventual appreciation of side projects is something that usually proceeds in stages. First, listeners – especially those with more entitlement than they know what to do with – need to accept that participants are taking time away from their main gigs to direct energy in a way they, as fans, may not agree with, or even approve of. Then, it needs to be understood that just because members of bands x, y, and/or z are involved, the final product may not turn out like bands x, y, and/or z.
Somewhere along the line, a verdict about where along the good/bad continuum the new work falls has to be decided upon before getting to the point where listeners can not only make sense of it all, but sit back and enjoy like they would any other record. Side projects can mess with the sense of ownership some feel about their favorite artists. Those pathologically attached to the comings and goings of certain bands might find themselves going down a path similar to the stages of grief surrounding death, although it’s really disheartening to we feel we have to point out that a member of a band jamming and releasing an album with outsiders is significantly lower on the tragedy scale than a loved one passing away.
However, if you pay attention to some of the bitching and complaining coming from the cheap seats, you’d think the apocalypse was occurring every time a Bloodbath, Fantomas, Blotted Science and Nailbomb was cancelled out with the emergence of Firebird, ASAP, MD.45 and Roadrunner United. Though, it did feel like the end times were upon us when C-187 crawled out from under the pile of rhino dung it should have stayed under. But I digress…
Given that Crystal Fairy features the core members of the Melvins means that this project is destined for outlier status from the start. Whether you’re a fan or not, it has to be recognized that there’s no band like the singular, shape-shifting force of musical nature like the duo of Roger “Buzz” Osborne and Dale Crover. What guise their projects are going to take is always unpredictably up in the air, even during the course of a their own recordings, let alone the freedom of a side project. Take that irreverence as it applies to their creativity and have it fronted by the multi-faceted performance art approach of Le Butcherettes’ Terri Gender Bender (nee Suárez) and add Omar Rodriguez-Lopez from At the Drive-In/Mars Volta, a musical polymath in his own right, and I refer you back to the first paragraph.
It has taken your humble narrator more than a little bit of time spent with Crystal Fairy to decode what’s going on. The funny thing is is that when the album is distilled down to its base elements, the general formula is pretty simple: the Melvins have gotten in touch with their more rockin’ heavy metal side, which has drawn out appreciable amounts of rocker chick ballsiness from Teri Gender Bender, who is ordinarily known for a brattier riot grrl/stripped-down garage punk aesthetic. Imagine the Melvins’ more rocking moments like “Honey Bucket,” “Revolve,” “Brass Cupcake” and “The Talking Horse” (among countless others) with Ms. Gender Bender exploring a more mature timbre and sophisticated tone; more Joan Jett-meets-Pat Benatar instead of Kathleen Hanna-meets-Allison Wolfe.
There are moments she sounds downright luxurious and sultry on “Under Trouble". She handles the hard driving 70's rock excursions of “Chiseler” and “Vampire X-Mas” with expert aplomb, making them the sort of songs you can instantly visualize Osborne, Rodriguez-Lopez and Crover grinning widely to, giving each other ecstatic sidelong glances while Gender Bender punctuates all verses and choruses with a fist raised aloft. She also sculpts the already kick-ass, gritty hard-edge grunge referencing riffing of “Bent Teeth” with some undeniably hooky phrasing. If rock radio had any of the DJ-guided adventurousness of 35-40 years ago much more of the world could be hearing this stuff.
There are a couple of mid-paced moments that are lacking in energetic mustard, especially when stacked up against the dominating shuck and groove (“Sweet Self,” “Moth Tongue”), but these are minor missteps when you consider how the almost operatic vocal ululating transforms the spaciousness of “Drugs on the Bus” and her dynamic diversity and ping-ponging between throaty singing and screechy vocalizations adds an extra layer of awesome to the classic kiss influence of “Necklace of Divorce.”
Score: 7.5/10
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzPP0P3l2ic[/youtube]
