The Melvins continue to cherry pick bassists for their albums and tours and their forthcoming album “Basses Loaded” takes their love of low end musical chairs to a new level. Six bassists have been recruited for the effort, including:
Krist Novoselic (ex-Nirvana)
Steve McDonald (Redd Kross)
J.D. Pinkus (Butthole Surfers)
Trevor Dunn (ex-Mr. Bungle, etc.)
Jared Warren (Big Business)
As for the sixth four-stringer, band drummer Dale Crover returns to the bass on a few tracks, resurrecting his 1983 role in the band. As evidenced by the title and the band recording a rendition of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame“, the sport of baseball also plays into the album. Below you can hear a stream of the new track “Hideous Woman” via Rollingstone.com, who are also running a new interview with band frontman/guitarist Buz “King Buzzo” Osborne.
The Melvins and Buzz Osborne of course have long ties to the Nirvana camp, but it seems it wasn’t exactly an easy process to get together with Novoselic. As Osborne explains, he and his bandmates were once again blown off by Dave Grohl, telling the aforementioned site:
“We had recorded a little bit with Krist Novoselic. And that was a really, really funny story. It was before where [the surviving members of Nirvana] played with Paul McCartney. Dave Grohl had said that he wanted to do all that stuff with us. He wanted to do Nirvana songs with the Melvins, and maybe have David Yow singing. So Krist Novoselic came down and we started rehearsing, and Dave was supposed to show up — and he just never showed up. Blew it off, totally. And it was his idea! I didn’t appreciate that, you know? I’m a lot of things, but one thing I’m not doing is sitting next to the phone in curlers, waiting for Dave Grohl to call me, you know? When he totally blows you off like that, it’s fucked. But whatever. There’s nothing I can do about that. So we did some recording with Krist while he was here.
Dave never talked to me about it in the first place. Dave talked to Krist about it in the first place. … We were rehearsing with me Krist, Dale and David Yow. Dave just was supposed to show up, never showed up. I was like, “Krist, let’s just go to his house. You know where he lives.” He wouldn’t do it. So next thing you know, they’re doing all this stuff with Paul McCartney.”
“I don’t do that to people, you know? Generally when I come up with an idea for something and it’s my idea, and people fly down there on their own dime, which is what Krist did, and then you leave him hanging. That’s not something I’m known for. But Dave, he’s busy playing songs at the Oscars and shit.”
See below for the track listing and cover art for “Basses Loaded“, as well as the stream of the new song. Before that effort hits stores, the band will release “Three Men And A Baby“—a previously shelved collaboration with Mike Kunka of godheadSilo fame—on April 01st. The band will also be teaming up with Napalm Death and Melt Banana on this North American tour.
01 – “The Decay of Lying” (feat. Steve McDonald)
02 – “Choco Plumbing” (feat. Jared Warren)
03 – “Beer Hippie” (feat. Dale Crover on bass)
04 – “I Want To Tell You” (feat. Steve McDonald)
05 – “Captain Come Down” (feat. JD Pinkus)
06 – “Hideous Woman” (feat. Steve McDonald)
07 – “Shaving Cream” (feat. Dale Crover on bass)
08 – “Planet Distructo” (feat. Trevor Dunn)
09 – “War Pussy” (feat. Steve McDonald)
10 – “Maybe I Am Amused” (feat. Krist Novoselic)
11 – “Phyllis Dillard” (feat. Dale Crover on bass)
12 – “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” (feat. Dale Crover on bass)
