Part of the joy of being a Melvins fan is the sense of discovery. Even after 30 years of sludge rocking their way around the world, the expandable power trio have never stopped reinventing themselves, whether collaborating with such disparate musical talents as Jello Biafra and Lustmord or shuffling the lineup entirely to accommodate the return of original drummer Mike Lillard, with longtime drummer Dale Crover cheerfully switching over to bass to make room. Who the fuck does that?
The Lillard lineup only held long enough to record 2013's uneven Tres Cabrones, a lurid scrapbook of Buzz Osborne originals and head scratching renditions of totally unasked for traditional tunes such as "99 Bottles of Beer" and "Tie My Pecker to a Tree", the latter associated with Cheech & Chong due its inclusion in the comedy duo's classic debut feature, Up in Smoke, but actually of unknown authorship.
Unfortunately, pointless covers rear their head once again on the new Melvins effort, Basses Loaded, with a redo of the Beatles' "I Want to Tell You" failing to catch fire, and run throughs of standards both obscure and done-to-death (naughty sea chanty "Shaving Cream" and stadium staple "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", respectively; didn't the band get this shit out of their system with Everybody Loves Sausages???), none of which serves any purpose other than to pad out the album's length. As with all Melvins efforts, however, there are some gems to be had amid the bedrock, though that trio of covers is hardly alone in undermining the album's consistency.
Though the title may mislead one into expecting multiple basses working in tandem – a la the Melvins + Big Business tour of some years back, which featured complementary bass and drum duos – Basses Loaded has but one bassist per track, it's just that that bassist rotates on each cut, with Dale Crover once again jumping out from behind the kit on four songs, along with old friends Steve McDonald (Redd Kross/Off!), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle/Melvins Lite), Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers) and of course Big Business' own Jared Warren. Hell, even Mike Lillard resurfaces to lay down drums on the tracks that Crover jumped over to bass for.
It's a family affair that often seems just as dysfunctional as a Thanksgiving get-together, with songs like the Crover-led "Phyllis Dillard" and "Beer Hippie" offering up crowd-pleasing sludge riffs that Melvins fans have come to know and love, while other collaborations such as "Choco Plumbing" (Warren) and "Maybe I Am Amused" (Novoselic) providing engaging diversions that successfully draw out previously unheard strengths in Osborne & co. But "Planet Destructo" is a flaccid attempt at space rock psychedelics – replete with completely out of place bass soloing by Trevor Dunn that sounds like he inserted an old Bungle outtake – and otherwise worthwhile tracks ("The Decay of Lying", "War Pussy") suffer from poor, seemingly random sequencing.
It's hardly all downside though: all but the absolute elite Melvins platters tend to have a handful of skippable moments, and all indulgences aside, a good 35 of Basses Loaded's 45 minute run time is a solid "b-game" effort from the ever-relaxed Washington band. No need to kick these guys down to the minors just yet.
Score: 7/10
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