Album Review : Melvins – ‘Pinkus Abortion Technician’
27 fucking albums! It is no wonder that Melvins have had such an impact in the alternative music scene. They are eternal, they always have been and always will be (well we can hope). This particular release held even more interest for me than usual, because as with ‘Hold It In’, there are Butthole Surfers aboard for the ride. Geeky musos might recognise that my alias is John E Smoke, a name I blatantly stole from the Surfers, and my left arm is pretty much given over to the art and lyrics of the band. Anyway, this is a Melvins review, right? Except that even the album title is a homage to the guest Butthole and one of their albums ‘Locust Abortion Technician’.
So, for this outing, Melvins feature the twin bass assault of Steve McDonald (Redd Kross, OFF!) and Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers) who join the indispensable Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover. The album starts off with a track that is in reality two songs sandwiched together. ‘Stop Moving To Florida’ takes a classic Butthole Surfers number ‘Moving To Florida’ and another cover ‘Stop’ by James Gang, a track I am not familiar with. The result still feels like two songs roughly tacked together, though the take on the Buttholes track is fun and exactly what you would expect Melvins covering the Surfers would sound like. ‘Embrace The Rub’ is a furious and sharp punky 100 second blast that precedes the bluesy and very sludgy ‘Don’t Forget To Breathe’ which is delicious and one of the album highlights throughout its nearly 8 minute duration.
‘Flambouyant Duck’ drifts eloquently past my ears without leaving any permanent reminder before things get fuzzy once more with ‘Break Bread’, a collision of radio friendly hooks and schizophrenic rhythms. This is followed by another cover, the Beatles ‘I Want To Hold Your Hands’. I wanted to despise this track, as the original somewhat annoys me, however, Melvins give the song their own spin, particularly in the grinding slowed down riff that divides the verse vocal lines. I begrudgingly accept that it fits on the album as much as anything else on offer. The chaos that this track descends into means that the penultimate track ‘Prenup Butter’ is initially a respite, but this is short lived as the chorus riff is huge and the song gets woozier and weirder as it progresses. Another highlight. This just leaves the closing number, another Butthole Surfers track by the name of ‘Graveyard’. Melvins can’t possibly make the track any stranger than the original but they give it a cracking go, keeping the spine chilling guitar licks and adding Buzz’s vocal character.
I am not entirely certain how I feel about the album as a whole. Eight tracks, three of which comprise cover versions (albeit the Butthole Surfers versions fit given the involvement of Pinkus). The album flashes by, giving the impression of brevity though it does actually clock in at around 40 minutes. ‘Pinkus Abortion Technician’ sounds like it was a fun album to make, and it is fun to listen to. And I think that is what it is, the album feels like an outing, a holiday, a distraction of sorts, while something with more gravitas might be brewing. I will chalk up ‘Don’t Forget To Breathe’ and ‘Prenup Butter’ as two of my favourite Melvins compositions, but the album doesn’t feel like a classic. They can’t all be though can they?
