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The Melvins Release “Allergic to Food”; New Album, Tarantula Heart, Arrives April 19 via Ipecac Recordings

March 20, 2024

THE MELVINS RELEASE “ALLERGIC TO FOOD” FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM, TARANTULA HEART (APRIL 19, IPECAC RECORDINGS)

https://themelvins.lnk.to/tarantula

MINISTRY’S ROY MAYORGA AND WE ARE THE ASTEROID’S GARY CHESTER GUEST ON ROLLICKING NEW ALBUM

“An album so magical, I helped create it without knowing it was happening.”

– Steven McDonald

March 20, 2024, LOS ANGELES – The Melvins share a second song from their forthcoming album, Tarantula Heart (April 19, Ipecac Recordings), with today’s release of “Allergic to Food” (https://themelvins.lnk.to/tarantula).

 

The band previously previewed the five-song, 39-minute collection with “Working The Ditch,” a six-and-a-half minute track that Consequence described as “a post metal haze,” Revolver dubbed as “apocalyptic and rumbling,” and Exclaim!, noting the double drumming team of Dale Crover and Roy Mayorga, as pure “percussive power.”

 

“The way we approached Tarantula Heart was different than any other Melvins’ album,” Buzz Osborne explained upon the album announcement. “I had Dale and Roy come in and play along with Steven and I to some riffs, then I took those sessions and figured out what parts would work and wrote new music to fit. This isn’t a studio approach we’ve ever taken. Usually we have the songs written BEFORE we start recording!”

 

“The majority of Tarantula Heart has dual drum parts,” Dale Crover adds. “Roy is an amazing drummer. We would discuss what we would do pattern wise, then we’d just go for it. Improvising riffs and trading off on drum fills.”

 

Recorded, mixed and co-produced by longtime Melvins’ collaborator Toshi Kasai, the album also features We Are The Asteroid guitar player Gary Chester. Gary and the Melvins’ history goes back to their days on Boner Records, with the guitar player formerly having been a part of the legendary band, Ed Hall.

 

Tarantula Heart pre-orders (https://themelvins.lnk.to/tarantula) are available on four vinyl variants (black, indie exclusive Silver Streak and Ipecac Recordings’ 25th Anniversary Puke Green, and a limited Neon Violet), featuring a 12-page booklet, as well as on CD and digitally.

 

Buzz and Mr. Bungle bass player Trevor Dunn team up later this year for the “King Dunn Tour,” a 45-date excursion that sees the pair play songs from the King Buzzo releases: This Machine Kills Artists and Gift of Sacrifice. The full list of dates can be found via Ipecac.com/tours.

Tarantula Heart cover, artwork by Mackie Osborne
Tarantula Heart track list:

 

1.    Pain Equals Funny

2.    Working the Ditch

3.    She’s Got Weird Arms

4.    Allergic to Food

5.    Smiler
The Melvins are one of modern music’s most influential bands. Having formed in 1983 Montesano, Washington, the group founded by singer/guitar player Buzz Osborne (with stalwart drummer Dale Crover joining the following year), has been credited with merging the worlds of punk rock and heavy music, forming a new subgenre all its own. Over the band’s 40-plus-year history, they’ve released over 30 original albums, numerous live full-lengths and far too many to count singles and rarities. Recent releases include 2022’s Bad Mood Rising, a really good collection of what the Melvins do, what they can do and what they want to do, and 2021’s 36-track acoustic collection Five Legged Dog, featuring reinterpretations of some of the band’s heaviest songs as well as covers from their favorite artists. In the course of their discography, they’ve partnered with Jello Biafra, Mudhoney, and Fantômas for individual releases and toured the world many times over. In fact, the band had the misfortune to be in both Christchurch and Tokyo for their 2011 earthquakes. In 2012, the Melvins completed the “51 States in 51 Days” (50 states +DC) tour, which was chronicled in the film “Across The USA in 51 Days.” The current incarnation of the band is Osborne, Crover, and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross). Previous line-ups include a pairing of Osborne and Crover with Big Business band members Jared Warren and Coady Willis, a four-piece featuring the current trio plus Butthole Surfers’ Jeff Pinkus, as well as Melvins Lite, which partners Osborne and Crover with Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn. Sometimes, if you’re extra lucky, one version of the Melvins will open for the Melvins.

 

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