OK, so, I got duped. It happens to the best of us and I’m not too proud to say it happened to me. Essentially what happened was I went to my PO Box one day to collect the promos I get each week for review for Crave. I stashed them in my bag and headed home, excited to see what I had that was kick ass and what I had that sucked. When I got home I scanned through the CDs where I stumbled upon a CDR that said simply “The Melvins”. I was amped, I love The Melvins and this looked like something new.
What I was supposed to be listening to was The Melvins new remix album “Chicken Switch”, a series of songs smashed to bits and reformulated by some of the leading noise and avante guarde artists. It sounded legit, it sounded like a remix album made up of noise and feedback and a general love of cacophony. I loved it and was quick to review and fire it off to Crave.
Then the bottom fell out.
I woke to an email telling me I’d reviewed a faked leak, that my comments on the remixed numbers weren’t even close. The worst part was the email came from a guy who worked on The Melvins official website. Now not only did I have egg on my face for the mistake but I felt like an idiot in the shadow of a band I respected. I shot back and email apologizing for the mistake but I still felt like a fool. Whoever had sent me the fake leak made me look like a jackass in front of my editor at Crave and The Melvins. Needless to say I was pissed.
Before I began torching homes to drum out the guilty party the folks over at Ipecac were kind enough to send me a link to the actual record. I’m still pissed about the fake, I’ve been reviewing albums for over twenty years and I’ve never had it happen to me before. Guess there’s always a first time. As make up for having readers check out a standard review of Chicken Switch I’ve decided to do a track-by-track one. So without further ado here’s my new and improved Chicken Switch review:
For the last twenty-five years or more no band has stretched the parameters of what it is to be band like The Melvins. Part punk, part prog, part rock and loaded with experimentation The Melvins simply do whatever they want and for the most part it was genius. What’s going on with Chicken Switch is amongst some of the most bizarre work The Melvins have offered up. Ranging from danceable to full on ear bleeding noise Chicken Switch has little to do with remixing and more with completely stripping the songs down to the bare bones and then building them back up.
This isn’t a record for everybody especially for those who enjoy the Melvins more straight ahead rock stuff. Chicken Switch is the stuff of pure art, music that comes from ideas and creativity not what the genre wants or what might make it on to the radio. Trust me, nothing on this album is coming close to the radio.
