The Melvins – Oven | Revulsion/We Reach (Leopard Gecko) 1989. Jaysus! Does anyone remember when Ozma came out? I do that’s fer shure. I know, I know…Gluey Porch Treatments was the first LP but let’s face it, unless you were a Northwest insider, that record just did not hit the radar. What it did do was build some buzz so that when Ozma came out we were all waiting patiently for it. The word was that out of all the stuff coming outta Washington, the Melvins, more than anything, were the real deal. Ironically enough, I think being here in the Midwest (I was in Tulsa at the time), made me even more prepared for Ozma. I mean I grew up around stoners and burnouts crankin’ Black Sabbath out of Firebirds and Dodge Darts after school. That was the world I was from. I picked this platter up at Starship, took it home and was literally blown away. Here was the perfect combination of Hard Rock sludgery mixed with Punk Rock minimalism. AND it was Avant garde as fuck. I mean listen to Oven dude…what the hell is actually happening at 00:25? The Melvins are the ultimate example of having your cake and eating it too. So yeah, I mentioned in my Drunks With Guns post that St Louis did it first and I believe that. But the Melvins did it the best. Hands down and they are still to this day one of the coolest bands around. They came to St Louis last year and literally rocked the house down. This 45 was a precursor to Ozma. It was released on Leopard Gecko. Remember them? Now pardon me while I go roll up a doobie so that I can bribe some hesher for a ride to school.
Hardcore Podcasts
September of 2010 I put together eight Hardcore Podcasts. You can check them out here if you are interested. For more insight into how I came up with the years 78-90 for the First Wave you can read about The Hardcore Superiorty Myth.
Great blog you have… thanks for sharing such great albums…
and i got a new blog that maybe you’ll like it (posting only old school punk), if you could visit it and give our opnion i’ll apreciate
cheers
isksp.blogspot.com
I have to honest — other than Dale Crover, whose drumming I greatly admire, I never got into The Melvins. Maybe it’s because I saw them live before hearing a lot of their stuff — I caught them on New Years Eve many moons ago in SF and they played maybe the most boring set I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure I stayed for all of it.
Come on, Joe, EVERYBODY owned Gluey Porch Treatments.
Shit. Heavy. A long time ago I had some very nice speakers for my home stereo that (literally) had 12 tweeters and 6 woofers PER SIDE that were six feet tall. That’s 32 speakers- completely ridiculous for home use. One of the first things we tried out on it was the Gluey/Ozma CD. The opening rumble would just shake your bowels. Man the guy who lived below us hated those speakers.
I know I know. (12+6)*2=36. All the heavier when I actually do the math correctly.
Brushback — Yeah you’re right. Everyone owned Gluey Porch Treatments on the CD with Ozma.
Malfeitor — I disagree. It’s all the heavier when you disobey the laws of mathematics completely.
Nice job Joe!!! Oven f-ing Rocks!!!! My first Melvins song heard & still my favorite. Helmet did a nice cover of it as well. Gluey Porch Treatments is a standout record.
Scott — No ride to school in the Dodge Dart for you!
ISK — Although this is not the bet forum for this info (emailing me is better), your blog is indeed mighty kick-ass and has been added to my blogroll.
malfeitor – you aren’t KRK are you? I believe the reason I never liked the Melvins is solely due to my pal, who also was my across the hall neighbor, who would still be up drunk at 4:30 in the morning when I was leaving for work rattling all the windows in our building with the Melvins cranked up on his high dollar Hi-Fi. Just sounds too familiar.
Believe me, the guy that didn’t want to hear that racket would never in a million years know who the hell the Melvins even were. He actually lived below me in a two story duplex. I guess the Melvins just have that effect on neighbors all over the world.
Joe, I just realized you used a word nobody outside the St. Louis area seems to know- Hesher or Heshen. That’s east Missouri talk for a burnout for the rest of you.
No we used it too out west ( and I find it still pops up in my vocabulary here and there), I think it’s an age thing maybe. I always thought it came from the Heshians motorcycle club, ie. long hairs.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hesher&defid=515310
What I find kinda interesting about this is that if then urban dictionary is correct, heshers and burnouts are two separate things. Heshers are more glammy and I would assume more prone to 80s cock rock while burnouts are more prone to 70s hardrock. I always used them interchangeably.
Malfeitor – you sure you weren’t talkin about the st louis usage of the term “hoosier”?
I always used hesher/burnout interchangeably too. I thought hoosier was for someone who was a bit bumpkinish.
yeah when I moved away from st louis I was real suprised to find out that everywhere else (in the USA) a “hoosier” is simply a person from Indiana. In St Louis its kinda like a dumb, mulleted, bush beer drinking nimrod.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier#Other_uses
That’s wild that the NPR linguist singled us out for our use of hoosier. But will the hoosiers continue to drink Busch????
They may have to move to Boulevard now that it is the largest brewer in the state
great record!!!!! Starship records is still around but they dont carry the cool stuff anymore(vinyl)
Mike – you a Tulsan?