Melvins
Stag

THE REVIEW

Being an "aficionados" of the site, I always take a look at the Melvins section to see if some brave soul has taken it upon themselves to update the endless discography of these geniuses of grunge (or sludge, you choose).

Many times I've thought: "damn, but 'Stag' still nothing?", so, hoping not to piss anyone off, I’m writing this review... to distract myself a bit. This (yet another) "little gem" is dated 1996, and it's the third released under Atlantic Records (after "Stoner Witch" and "Houdini").

Wanting to make a sort of comparison with the latter, let's say that "Stag" maintains the usual and pleasant "heaviness" at its core (and agreeable "pounding" included). This time, however, our guys create a sort of deliberate and sought-after "sonic mess", after the aforementioned major had imposed something more "commercial" on them (which makes me chuckle).

The album opens with "The bit", one of the band's most famous tracks, with its "oriental" start and King Buzzo's punishing riff setting the pace. From this moment onwards, you'll continue through mood swings, dangerous ups and downs, and massacres in the background. The sonic "carousel" proceeds with "Bar-X-The Rocking Man", an heavy-scratch piece, where the band even blows their trumpets, and then moves on to the hopeful riff of "The Bloat", torn apart by the killer Buzzo-bass duo (as if to say: "we were just kidding..."). "Tipping the lion" and "Black Block" are two lighthearted songs, the first with anthology-worthy blues breaks and a soft-noise pace (except for the restless finale); the second is decidedly syrupy and pop-like (obviously not to be taken too seriously). I say "obviously", because it's the very "Googles" that makes you understand it. A big doom hit recorded in a torture chamber (where, by the way, they also try to slaughter someone). In "Soup", our guys fill demijohns of who knows what in Buzzo's cellar. We don’t even have the time to try to guess when they (re)start at a wickedly fast pace with "Buck Owens", basically the riff from "Revolve" (featured in "Stoner Witch"), "shot" this time at 220 km/h, a bass that leaves no room for comments, with attached kick-in-the-face galore.

With "Sterilized", we return to the mangled room, where we can also hear the wails of someone (but this time more distant). In the following "Lacrimosa", King Buzzo, Sir Dale Crover, and the excellent Mark Deutrom (bassist of the moment, also producer of Ozma) do nothing but revel in the slaughter previously well executed and celebrate it with rather massive firecrackers that explode with some regularity. A huge smile will (re)return to your face as you listen to "Skin Horse", splendid in its pop-rock beginning, culminating in the sweetest sound of a music box with a metallic little voice that has never been so spot on (or are you Carolina, the one singing?).

The album closes with the mini-suite "Captain Pungent"- "Cottonmouth", the first very hard-rock; the second very punk-rock in a mild manner (then don't come telling me they almost sound the same). The "filling" tracks I haven't mentioned will only serve to give you time to predict what might happen "next"; after all, what happens "next", I hope I've summarized it well for you in this review.