King Buzzo – This Machine Kills Artists
They said it couldn’t happen. They said it shouldn’t… oh, OK. We’re fibbing. Still, after 31 years and 19 Melvins albums, it seems odd that Buzz Osborne should finally choose to strike out alone. Speaking disdainfully of solo efforts that sound like “a crappy James Taylor,” he’s promised that This Machine Kills Artists will be “a different animal,” and sweet mother of crap, he’s not kidding.
Entirely acoustic but formidably hard-edged, it’s filled with crushing riffology and deranged howls – not entirely dissimilar to those of his day job. There are surprises too, of course: the haunting New River hums with desert-parched blues, and How I Became Offensive plays tricks with us all by bordering on the sweetly reflective before exploding into menacing power chords. Meanwhile, Buzz remains as brilliantly manic as ever, ploughing more intensity into these 17 (!) tracks than most bands manage in a lifetime. Artists beware. [Will Fitzpatrick]
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