Monday, August 6, 8 p.m.
Rock Island Brewing Company, 1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
Led by rock legend Buzz Osborne, who has been touring with his band for 35 years, the sludge-metal and hardcore-punk musicians of The Melvins make a return appearance at the Rock Island Brewing Company on August 6, with AllMusic.com writing of the iconic group, “Their ability to combine punk with a strong Black Sabbath influence had a major impact on everything from grunge to alternative metal to doom metal and stoner rock.”
Ranked number two on Metal Injection's list of “10 Heaviest Grunge Bands,” The Melvins were formed in early 1983 by guitarist Osborne, bassist Matt Lukin, and drummer Mike Dillard, all of whom attended Montesano Jr. and Sr. High School in Montesano, Washington. Though they initially played covers by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Cream, original music was recorded for the Melvins' 1986 EP debut Six Songs, and in December of that year, the group recorded its first full-length album Gluey Porch Treatments for California's Alchemy Records. By the early 1990s, the Melvins had begun to tour internationally in between recording albums such as 1991's Bullhead and 1992's Lysol. And when Nirvana's Nevermind became an unexpectedly massive success, the Melvins were one of many groups to benefit from Nirvana's support, having been an early inspiration for a young Kurt Cobain. They were consequently signed by Altnatic Records, and their first major label release, 1993's Houdini, entered the Billboard Heatseekers Chart at number 29.
To date, the Melvins' extraordinary musical legacy and longevity have resulted in 21 studio albums, seven live albums, eight compilation albums, and six EPs, with the band's most recent recording – Pinkus Abortion Technician, released on April 20 – inspiring MetalNexus.net to rave that “everything they put out is binge-worthy material,” with the artists themselves described as “the godfathers of sludge as well as grunge.” Last year's A Walk with Love & Death, meanwhile, was cited in a River Cities' Reader article by Max Allison as an album that “exemplifies the elements that keep fans coming back for more: the capacity to lose oneself in the thrill of their riffs and to headbang in the pit, juxtaposed against the need to take a step back, scratch your head, and follow along with their strange, nearly illogical decisions to confound and experiment.”
The Melvins perform on August 6 with an opening set by Jon Spencer, tickets to the all-ages 8 p.m. show are $20, and more information is available by calling (309)793-1999 or visiting RIBCO.com.
