Melvins - Night Goat

'Night Goat' is one of the greatest and darkest songs from one of the Melvins' most popular periods of their long and illustrious careers. It's also one of the more accessible, having what in the Melvins' repertoire comes closest to a conventional rock sound and structure. So, it's only fitting it should have received a single release.


I think this was the first involvement Melvins had with the infamous Amphetamine Reptile Records label; a relationship that has sporadically continued to this day. This single was released at time when Melvins were in between leaving previous label Boner and making their major-label debut with Atlantic. That came in 1993 with Houdini, probably their best-known album, probably in part due to a partial producer's credit for one Kurt Cobain. Apparently, Cobain actually had very little input and most of the role was carried out by the Melvins and engineer Billy Anderson. Anderson was also one of the engineers on the 'Night Goat' single, which goes a way to explaining why there is very little difference between the version found here and the version on Houdini.


The track starts with one of the most memorable bass-lines ever; low, mean-spirited and ominous, but with a definite groove. In this version the bass sound seems grimier than on the later album version. The intro is also longer, giving the band time to build up tension and anticipation with some carefully-placed percussive flourishes from the extraordinary Dale Crover. The song features a sludgy verse that has Buzz bellowing his way through some indecipherable lyrics climaxing with a classic blood-curdling scream that leads into a killer guitar solo that I suppose would be the chorus. Hard to say with these Melvins! Not that it matters.




The sleeve goes a long way to replicating the sinister and unpalatable sounds within: a boy with a deformed jaw (possibly trussed up?) in a pantry alongside what appear to be a hogleg and some kind of poultry. Nice work Harvey Bennett Stafford! It also lists what is hands-down the worst-ever pseudonym for a moonlighting musician; Salty Green, made even worse by the fact that he wasn't even moonlighting: this is, I believe, Joe Preston's final appearance as a member of the Melvins. Recorded in 1991, but not released until 1992 it seems likely that Joe was gone by the time the record came out, hence the misnomer.


The B-side is the Pussy Galore cover 'Adolescent Wet Dream'. I was very excited was I discovered the Melvins had covered this song since while I'm not the biggest fan of Pussy Galore, I do love the E.P. this track is taken from, Sugarshit Sharp, which perfectly condenses the whole P.G. attitude and sound into a concise package with like, you know, actual SONGS, unlike a lot of their other recorded output. The thing is, I couldn't imagine the slow and heavy sound of Melvins meshing well the scathingly chaotic rock 'n roll songs of P.G. - a band famed for not even having a bassist. I've since discovered that in the SPIN Alternative Record Guide (1995, Vintage) King Buzzo listed Sugarshit Sharp as one of his top 10 records of all time. So there you have it!


The Melvins' version of the song is a great reworking; channeling the energy and swagger of the original in a sludgier groove; more heavy and hypnotic. Where Jon Spencer would have yelped, Buzz unleashes his Kiss-like high screams and the drums thud rather than clatter along. So, not better than the orginal, but the Melvins really make it their own to the point where Buzz seems to swap some of the lyrics for gibberish words that are phonetically suited to the music (a technique utilised extensively on Houdini as well as many other Melvins records).






The record itself is a nice item; this one here is a marbled blue, but I've also seen it in orange. Apparently there are purple marbled and white copies out there, too. This was released in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, although it comes up fairly often on eBay so I'm not sure how accurate that is. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say the CD version that was released in Germany is rarer, if less desirable.


This version of 'Night Goat' was compiled in 2004 on the retrospective CD that came with the beautiful Neither Here Nor There book. 'Adolescent Wet Dream' is yet to released elsewhere.

L7 - Everglade

In the early-mid 90s L7 were a fairly big name in the 'grunge' movement, probably due in part to their distinctive look (i.e. being an all-female band in a male-dominated genre) and Riot Grrrl attitude. They helped set up Rock for Choice; a women's rights group that was supported by other big names of the rock community, like Red Hot Chili Pepper and Nirvana. Now it seems that all most people remember them for is Donita Sparks dropping her pants on 'The Word' and flashing her "mons pubis" (as Wikipedia specifies), and for raffling off their drummer at a 2000 show. That's some confusing gender politics right there for a nice, middle-class English boy living in a post-feminist society to get his head around.

It's no surprise that these salacious acts have outlived the memory of the music, which hasn't stood the test of time if this single is to go by. Even in 1992 this must have sounded kind of dated; big, dumb, hair-metal riffs with snarling, snotty mob vocals, 'Everglade' seems more in tune with everything 'grunge' purported to hate. L7 never really fitted the 'grunge' sound; sure there was 'Pretend We're Dead', which was kind of melodic in a Hole-like way, but really they got lumped in with it due to their look and the sudden marketability of 'grunge'. They were signed up by Slash Records, by then owned by London Records and recorded their major-label debut Bricks are Heavy with....can you guess.....yep, Butch Vig. Who else?

'Everglade' was promoted via a fist-pumping, head-banging video:

The cover makes a point of mentioning the "exclusive new track FREAK MAGNET", which couldn't have stayed exclusive for long as it was later included on L7's 1994 album Hungry for Stink. I'm not sure if that was the same version or a re-recording, but either way the song sucks. It starts with a laughably heavy and cheesy riff, then shifts tempo and explodes into another all-out metal extravaganza. This treads the same ground as the A-side, although those with a sense of irony (or just really, really drunk) may find it marginally more enjoyable.



Well, this record is the pits. The only thing to recommend it is the nice cover by famous poster artist Coop, and maybe the green vinyl. The memory of the mons remains.

The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair Epidemic

Amidst claims that I only own records by artists beginning with ‘D’ I have dropped my planned discussions of Dio, D:Ream, Dollar and Daniel O’Donnell and will instead be taking a look at The Jesus Lizard in anticipation of their new release on Record Store Day.

2009 is the year of The Jesus Lizard! To celebrate the reissuing of their remastered back catalogue the band have reformed for the first time in 10 years to play a string of dates this summer across the U.S. and Europe.

The first batch of reissues (Pure, Head and Goat: all remastered by original ‘producer’ Steve Albini and Bob Weston of Shellac fame) are due on 22nd September on Touch and Go Records. But, to tide us over until then and to commemorate Record Store Day 2009 Touch and Go are releasing something of a wet dream for this TJL-and-7”-single-loving fan: Inch. Inch is a collection of nine 7” singles, which have all been out of print for years now, all remastered by Bob Weston and presented in a clear vinyl display pack that allows the whole thing to be hung on a wall and frottaged (or just folded up and put away in a box). Here is an artist’s impression:

The downside is there’s only going to be 2000 copies. God knows how many of those will be distributed outside of the U.S. But if there’s a copy to be had, I’ll do my damnedest to get my hands on it. Check out some of the cool stuff in there: the super-rare ‘Gladiator’ single! The overly-long Lash EP! Love The Jesus Lizard, but balk at the idea of owning a Nirvana record? Then you’ll love the split single they released with Nirvana…now with the Nirvana side mysteriously removed! Hurrah! I still can’t believe that The Jesus Lizard scored a #12 hit single with this in the UK charts. I would LOVE to have a copy of Bruno Brooks or Dr. Fox or whoever running down the top 40 and having to introduce/apologise for that one! Also in there is possibly my favourite single that I own; ‘Wheelchair Epidemic.’

One of my favourite bands + truly unpleasant yet catchy song + truly unpleasant yet beautifully rendered artwork = one hot slab of plastic.

The A-side is a cover of a pretty nasty, cruel and completely un-PC song by Texan punk band The Dicks, sung in goading fashion by the irrepressible Mr. David Yow, most convincingly deranged front man on the planet? To justify getting a kick out this, I must say that it goes beyond offensive, tipping into the tastelessly cartoonish and then into comical. I suppose that were it not for the music chugging away in such rocking fashion it would be teetering on the brink of ‘novelty’ and that is not a good place to be!

The artwork is similarly crude and offensive, as if to emphasise the cartoonish, over-the-top nature of the track. So, the cover may not be much to look at, but check out the back:

What warped mind could be responsible for such lurid imagery? Surely not the same man who penned the lines, “there’s a girl playing the piano while her mother gives her an enema,” and “the dead princess lay silent and her cunt’s ripped?”

The B-side is a little tamer lyrically; just some stuff about being fucked up the arse by the personification of misery and illness. The track is ‘Dancing Naked Ladies,’ presented here in an even slower, queasier and more churning form than its album version.

Well, I almost wore this thing out before the singles CD compilation Bang came out and saved my record from a fate similar to Nirvana’s side of the ‘Puss’ single. Get yourself a copy of Bang or grab one of these on eBay but do not, do NOT buy a copy of Inch. At least not until I’ve got one in the bag.