MELVINS / JON SPENCER | LIVE REVIEW
Y Plas, Cardiff University Students Union, Thurs 25 Oct
It’s five years since I’ve seen a gig in this venue, and a lot of the audience present this evening were pretty definitely at the last one too, headlined by Dinosaur Jr. They – the bands, the audience, the reviewer – must have moments of existential struggle with the reality of nostalgic appeal versus the desire to stay relevant. Or do they? The folks dotted around the room in ancient Faith No More t-shirts and suchlike might be perfectly content to eternally retreat into old favourites, while American sludge metal pioneers the Melvins themselves truly don’t seem to care what anyone thinks of them.
Jon Spencer [below], the Melvins’ European tour support, is too much of a born crowdpleaser to claim the same, but he’s put years of underwhelming albums with the Blues Explosion (his best known band) behind him on a new one, Spencer Sings The Hits!. It sounds like his sassy 80s/90s heyday and so does this set, dotted with a few covers including Jonathan Richman’s Roadrunner. Spencer’s three-person band includes Bob Bert, drummer on the earlier Sonic Youth records; his presence is made more notable by playing a scrap metal kit with hammers for drumsticks.
The current incarnation of the Melvins features two bassists, both of notable alt-rock heritage: Jeff Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers and Steven McDonald of Redd Kross. They might not be the main reason for most punters to purchase tickets, but assert themselves prominently, taking the stage before long-term Melvins members Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover. McDonald in particular is a remarkable performer, giving this band an implausible powerpop dimension through near-constant high-kicks and hair tosses in a loud suit. A rumbly eight-stringed intro morphs into Sesame Street Meat, a 2014 number written with Pinkus, and we’re pingponged back and forth through the band’s sizeable discography for the next 75 minutes.
While the Melvins’ recent albums tend to strike occasional gold but lack consistency, they make it work onstage, both through song choices and pinpoint amp heft. Stop Moving to Florida, a quasi-cover of a Butthole Surfers song, and Don’t Forget To Breathe are highlights of their latest LP, Pinkus Abortion Technician, and highlight their goofy and dramatic sides respectively. Received with greater fervour – I’ve seen more animated Melvins audiences, for better or worse – are three cuts from their tempestuous but fertile 90s era: the rampaging Honey Bucket, blues wailer The Bit and 1999’s Let It All Be.
A droning jam which teases with riffs from Eye Flys, one of the Melvins’ earliest and greatest moments, eventually turns into the song proper and sees us off, pleasantly encore-less, in tremendous fashion. Save, that is, for Dale Crover singing So Long, Farewell from The Sound Of Music, having just turned in a superpowered drumming performance that suggests his band’ll be doing the rounds for a long while yet.
words NOEL GARDNER photos TIM ALBAN
