Melvins ‘Working With God’ Review: Sludge lords go back to their original 1983 lineup on latest release.
Metal oddballs the Melvins have always had a fluid lineup, changing in numerous iterations over the years. For their latest release, Working With God (out 2/26 via Ipecac Recordings), they go old school, reuniting their original 1983 roster (last heard together on 2013’s Tres Cabrones).
That lineup (Buzz Osborne on vocals and guitar, Dale Crover switching from drums to bass, and drummer Mike Dillard) bring their weirdest foot forward for Working With God, kicking off with I Fuck Around, a hilariously profane rendition of The Beach Boys’ I Get Around.
Negative No No follows, with a jazz drum intro and a classic slice of vintage Melvins, with a riff as huge as life, surly vocals and oppressive sonics, as does Caddy Daddy, with a behind-the-beat swagger that lingers in the air long after it concludes.
Bouncing Rick picks up the pace, a rollicking number augmented with weird electronic overtones and a manic energy, while the two-part Brian The Horse Faced Goon is Ween-worthy weirdness, with cartoonish vocals, angular riffing, a danceable beat and other percussive elements highlighting a tale of drug abuse (I think?).
Boy Mike’s unrelenting sawed-off riff has an industrial metal urgency, with so much chaotic energy that things might fall apart in lesser hands, but the end result is one of the catchiest songs of their career, while the anthemic, chugging The Great Good Place and bone shaking Hund aren’t far behind in that dept.
The band continue their knack for profane covers with Fuck You (a take on Harry Nillson’s You’re Breaking My Heart), but keep it traditional on album closer Good Night Sweetheart (besides the backwards Satanic’ish vocals), bringing things to a winsome close.
Nobody can do metal the way the Melvins do, especially when taken straight from the source, and Working With God is a testament to a lineup that sounds like it hasn’t missed a beat after 9 years off. The lord works in mysterious ways indeed.
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