Tres Cabrones

(Mat Hayward)

By Alex De Vore

Since 1983, there has been one grunge/sludge/pop band that all others—and this includes a healthy number of metal bands—have aspired to emulate. It’s a name that rings triumphantly through the hills like some kind of goddamn victorious Viking cry. A name that inspires, thrills and chills even after 30-plus years of albums and touring and slaying, and either is or should be near and dear to anyone who ever felt a love for heavy jams. We speak, of course, of Melvins!

The brainchild of Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover that spawned countless albums and 7-inch recordings, that gave birth to a sort of freak-out style offshoot from the early '90s grunge movement and that took the major label industry's one-time desperation to sign practically any Seattle band and turned it into one of the most successful musical stories of all time, Melvins still reign supreme, and they're coming to Taos (drag they're skipping Santa Fe, but it's worth the drive).

With records like 1993's Houdini, 1994's Stoner Witch, 2013's Tres Cabrones and too many others to print, the boys have always proven prolific, but the truly amazing thing about Melvins' staggering output is that their albums are always, always good. Always. How many bands can say that? They've assembled super-bands on the reg with touring appearances from the likes of Big Business, they've slayed in their off-time whether it's Buzz-O's longtime affiliation with Mike Patton's Fantômas or in any of the side project brilliance in which each member takes part, they've regularly given us live albums and bootlegs to obsess over and all the while continued to tour practically nonstop in venues large and small all over the world.

This would be no small feat for the most label-supported of all pop stars, but they've managed to do so while holding on to their autonomy and pretty much operating however the hell they please. It's a tale that should speak to the metalheads, the punk-rock nerds, the studio fanatics, the rock obsessed…look, if you have ears, you should probably just love this band.

Melvins
7 pm Saturday, July 18. $17
Taos Mesa Brewing Co.
20 ABC Mesa Road,
(575) 758-1900

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