Melvins

If any one band started grunge, the Melvins had the best claim to the title. They largely brought the cross of punk and metal to the Seattle area, and were a prime influence on the city's more successful bands-especially Nirvana, whose leader Kurt Cobain famously called them his favorite band. Original members Buzz Osborne (guitar, vocals), Matt Lukin (bass) and Mike Dillard (drums, replaced early on by Dale Crover) were all high-school friends who listened to hardcore punk and power-trio rock, along with the post-hardcore bands (notably Black Flag) who were bridging those styles. From the start, the Melvins were less into conventional rock songs and more prone to avant-noise excursions, which heightened their influence while doing them no favors commercially. The band made its debut with 1986's Six Songs EP, ultimately expanded into the album 10 Songs and the CD 26 Songs. Meanwhile the Seattle scene was heating up; Crover was one of a few drummers to play with Nirvana in their early days. He joined them for a ten-song 1988 demo, from which three songs were included on their debut album Bleach. The Melvins' 1990 album Bulkhead opened with one of their defining tracks, the eight-minute "Boris" which introduced their newly developed longer-and-slower approach. They pushed it further on 1992's Lysol, which had an even longer opener ("Hung Bunny" at eleven minutes) and two Alice Cooper covers. Now in the midst of Nirvana's breakthrough, Cobain used his influence to get the Melvins signed to Atlantic; he was listed as coproducer for 1993's Houdini though the band has denied he actually did any producing. They followed this with Prick-- the title a rebuke to Cobain for killing himself-which eschewed conventional songs altogether. As accessible as the Melvins ever got, 1994's Stoner Witch wrapped up their major-label tenure. 1999-2000 brought a trilogy of albums-- The Maggot, The Bootlicker and The Crybaby-- apparently inspired by business associates that had rubbed the band the wrong way. Faith No More/Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton would remain their most frequent collaborator (in 2008 they co-curated an edition of All Tomorrow's Parties with him); they also toured and recorded with former Dead Kennedys leader Jello Biafra. The lineup shifted a few times, with Osborne and Crover as the constants; they were eventually joined by ex-Butthole Surfers bassist Jeff Pinkus and more surprisingly, by Steven McDonald, from the pop band Redd Kross, on guitar. Beginning in 2011 they split into two bands, the regular quartet and a separate three-piece (Osborne, Crover and bassist Trevor Dunn) that toured as Melvins Lite, playing 51 nights in a row during 2012. Celebrating their 30th anniversary, the original lineup (with Dillard) recorded Tres Cabrones as Melvins 1983. 2018 brought the Butthole Surfers-inspired Pinkus Abortion Technician which included a non-Beatles sounding take on "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."