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Dale releases "Glossolalia," his third solo, full-length album, on Sept. 13 via @joyfulnoiserecs. Guests include Tom Waits, Kim Thayil, Ty Segall, Dan Southwick and Rob Crow. Produced by Toshi Kasai and Dale.
Check out the newly released song and video for "Doug Yuletide":


Grab a copy of the limited-edition vinyl, on either Hot Pink or"Lickety Split Pink," with only 400 hand-numbered copies (w/bonus flexi-disc) available: http://dalecrover.lnk.to/Glossolalia

As he began plotting his new solo album, Dale Crover realized he was starting from scratch. The Melvins, Nirvana and Redd Kross drummer, and Altamont singer-guitarist, was already more than 30 years into a world-renowned musical career when he started work on what became his full-length solo debut — 2017’s The Fickle Finger of Fate — so he had a backlog of songs and ideas to draw on. Likewise, he incorporated older material into Rat-A-Tat-Tat!, which followed in 2021. But this time around it was different: just Crover and a Tascam 8-track gifted to him by Joyful Noise founder Karl Hofstetter.

“I didn’t have any songs,” Crover says. “So I just went on this writing spree.”

The result of that creative burst is Glossolalia, Crover’s third LP under his own name and arguably his most focused statement yet as a solo artist: 11 catchy yet eccentric tracks — demoed at home and later re-recorded with longtime Melvins engineer Toshi Kasai — that move from Nuggets-y garage rock to crafty proto-metal riffage and gorgeously hazy psych-pop, and feature Crover’s songwriting, vocals and multi-instrumental talents alongside a number of illustrious guests, from past collaborators like Ty Segall to none other than Tom Waits. Crover’s prior Joyful Noise releases, including a set of lathe-cut singles that doubled as surreal art objects, took a more experimental tack, blending in oddball textural interludes along with more straightforward songs. This time, the sound is streamlined, with a natural flow that carries the listener straight through from the rollicking album-opening title track to eerily evocative closer “Punchy.” “Just having everything kind of fresh,” Crover says of the project as a whole, “I got really inspired.”

Crover found the seeds of these new songs in everything from his teenage memory banks to books and films he recently checked out. The idea for “Glossolalia” itself came from a surreal experience Crover had in high school, when he got roped into playing drums at a church.

“They’re doing this service and it’s starting to get kind of crazy: ‘Praise the Lord; praise Jesus!’” Crover recalls. Spotting one of his classmates in attendance, he was surprised to find her participating in a particularly intense way. “All of a sudden, she starts freaking out and speaking in tongues,” Crover says. “I was minding my own / You came along / Spoke with your tongue,” he sings on the track that grew out of the incident, a jangly stop-start rocker on which Crover plays guitar, bass and drums, with Kasai adding in groovy, surf-rock-style keyboard.

Crover wanted to kick the track off with some actual glossolalia (the dictionary term for speaking in tongues), and at first he or Kasai was going to do the honors. But Kasai’s offhand mention that he might have an in with Tom Waits’ manager got the pair thinking that, as Crover recalls, “It might be weird enough that he would do it.” Word came back that Waits was game, and just before the album was set to be mastered, he sent in two fragments of brilliantly bizarre wordless mouth sounds that Crover and Kasai ended up layering on top of each other, one in each channel. “We were like, ‘Fuck, they’re both really good,’” Crover says with a laugh. “‘We’ve got to use both.’”

Two other tracks, “Doug Yuletide” and “Punchy,” were collaborations with guitarist Dan Southwick, Crover’s longtime friend and Altamont bandmate. “He’s one of those guys that’s always been really easy to write songs with,” Crover says. “Doug Yuletide” — the title of which mashes up the name of Velvet Underground member Doug Yule with a nod to the holiday season in which it was written — pairs Southwick’s rolling midtempo riffs with a tale that Crover describes, in another Velvets hat-tip, as a “vampire-story ‘Venus in Furs.’” “Punchy,” meanwhile, is a swirling sonic tapestry matched with lyrics inspired by a dream Southwick had and related to Crover (“It seems so strange / To be sitting here telling you these things / ‘Cause in my dream / You were wearing purple and green”), and a suitably trance-like vocal delivery from Crover.

Rob Crow, of indie-rock institution Pinback, perverse grindcore act Anal Trump and countless other projects, contributes guitar and backing vocals to another beautifully melancholy selection, “Don’t Worry About It.” The song — for which Crover took musical cues from the Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping” — deals with anxiety about the future, and how “things always seem to work out no matter what.” Crow also turns up on “I’ve Waited Forever,” a hooky, moody power-pop-esque rocker that touches on control, a theme that surfaces throughout the record in various forms, (whether “being in control, out of control, or controlling,” Crover explains). Liquid-toned lead guitar from Ty Segall ups the song’s stakes. “He’s such a good player,” Crover says of Segall, who also graces “Spoiled Daisies,” a crunchy, riffy track inspired by a bad teenage mushroom trip. “He came in and just did it in a few hours.”

Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, a die-hard Melvins fan since the band’s earliest days, lets loose on both “I Quit” and “Rings,” adding squealing and soaring psychedelic shred, respectively. Crover channeled Gary Numan when singing the former, another song dealing with the theme of control, while he touched on hardboiled-crime-fiction territory, reminiscent of writer Jim Thompson, for “Rings,” a vaguely sinister character sketch whose armed, jailhouse-tatted, “overserved” protagonist seems out to do harm.

“Jane,” with its shimmy-friendly bounce, shows off Crover’s lighter side. Just before the death of singer-actor Jane Birkin last year, Crover had been immersing in 1960s French culture, including yé-yé pop sounds and La Piscine, a psychological thriller that she co-starred in, so he framed the song as a tribute to her: “All the men try to win her over,” he sings. “But they just get the cold shoulder.” (When Crover played a demo of the track for Buzz Osborne, his Melvins bandmate likened it to the taut pop-rock of the Knack.)

Meanwhile, “Kitten Knife” — an alternately stomping and subtle track that features Crover’s own righteous guitar leads, a reminder that the six-string was actually his first instrument — stemmed from a recent reading of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and “Blow’d Up,” marked by a mambo-like drum groove and a fist-pumping chorus, grew out of reflections on relationship dynamics.

Taken as a whole, Glossolalia shows that, just as the Melvins continue to grow and evolve into their fourth decade, Crover is actively taking new steps as a solo artist. Amid the inspired babbling of Waits, the glorious shredding of Segall and Thayil, and more, what stands out across the record is the sturdiness of Crover’s vision. He’s modest about his ambitions — “It’s just kind of like extra credit,” he says, about having a solo outlet apart from his main band — but as this record shows, his overall aesthetic hits just as hard as his legendary drum thunder.


✨ Catch Dale on tour this Summer, playing an acoustic set on all Redd Kross dates and headlining a limited number of Dale Crover Band shindigs as well:

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From the Redd Kross Facebook page: 
What an exciting week it has been; we released the first single “Candy Coloured Catastrophe” from our upcoming double album REDD KROSS into the wild, and the effect has been immediate. As warned earlier it is “sticky, icky and dangerously addictive”, so be careful! Listen responsibly and turn it UP!!! 🍬⚡️


But now only minutes away tickets for our North American Summer Tour officially go on sale at 10am PDT. Some of you have even already been able to find presale codes to buy tickets. Our gratitude hats off to you! 🙏🏻🎩
These shows are particularly special to us as we’ll be celebrating the 45th Anniversary of Jeffrey and Steven first stepping on stage together signaling the most unique of brotherhoods known as REDD KROSS.
And we’d like to welcome back to the rock stage, after a successful back surgery, our man behind the pagan skins, the great Dale Crover, who will also start the night off right with a DJ and solo acoustic set.
Every night promises to be a special event. So don’t mess around and get your tickets now. We can’t wait to see you!!! Oh and don’t forget to pre-order REDD KROSS (on clear redd vinyl!) from @intheredrecords. Buy Tickets reddkross.com/shows Have a great weekend!!

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The Melvins’ new album, Tarantula Heart, arrives today and in celebration, the band has shared a mini-documentary about the creation of the album: “The Making of Tarantula Heart” 

 


“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 Mayorga of Ministry 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 three-month 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.

 

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NEWLY ANNOUNCED, ACOUSTIC “KING DUNN TOUR” IS THE LEGENDARY MELVINS’ FRONTMAN’S SECOND EVER SOLO TOUR AND COMES 10 YEARS AFTER HIS LAST ROUND OF LIVE PERFORMANCES

King Buzzo, the iconic founder and lead vocalist/guitar player for the Melvins, and Mr. Bungle bass player Trevor Dunn, join forces this Fall, teaming up for the European leg of the “King Dunn Tour!”

“I’ve been waiting a LONG time to do an acoustic tour with Trevor,” Buzz Osborne shares. “He’s a fantastic player, and has the ability to make his bass sound like an oil tanker crashing into a coral reef.”

Osborne and Dunn have collaborated several times over the years, including Dunn’s participation in King Buzzo’s 2020 album, Gift of Sacrifice, as well as both being members of Fantômas, and Dunn’s work as a part of Melvins Lite. On the “King Dunn Tour,” Dunn will will play a stand-up concert bass, while Osborne will sing and play acoustic guitar.

Tickets on sale March 1 via ipecac.com/tours

 October
1 - Bristol, England
3 - Edinburgh, Scotland
4 - Newcastle, England
5 - Glasgow, Scotland
6 - Leeds, England
8 - Manchester, England
9 - Birmingham, England
10 - Norwich, England
11 - Brighton, England
13 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
14 - Cologne, Germany
15 - Antwerp, Belgium
16 - Berlin, Germany
17 - Leipzig, Germany
19 - Warsaw, Poland
20 - Krakow, Poland
21 - Vienna, Austria
22 - Zagreb, Croatia
24 - Rome, Italy
25 - Milan, Italy
26 - Zurich, Switzerland
27 - Geneva, Switzerland
28 - Paris, France
29 - Lille, France
31 - London, England

King Buzzo, a.k.a. Buzz Osborne, is the singer, guitar player and founder of the enormously influential band, the Melvins. His innovative approach to songwriting, and guitar playing, has influenced countless musicians, and turned leagues of music lovers into ardent fans. Renowned for his pioneering use of down-tuned strings, Buzzo masterfully blended his punk and metal influences, and in turn, he created a groundbreaking new sound in heavy music. Over Osborne’s extensive career, which originated in the small hamlet of Montesano, Wash. in 1983, he has released over 30 albums under the Melvins’ moniker, two solo albums [Gift of Sacrifice (2020) and This Machine Kills Artists (2014)], as well as a number of collaborative projects including Fantômas and Crystal Fairy.

Trevor Dunn might be most widely known for his work with Mr. Bungle, the eclectic and unpredictable Northern California band he co-founded in 1985, but his career outside of Mr. Bungle has been just as notable. Also a member of Fantômas, Trevor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant, Tomahawk and Melvins Lite, Dunn has also written music for various ensembles, performed extensively with John Zorn, and recently formed Riverworm Records, a label home for “discarded, forgotten, and misunderstood music.”

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The Melvins latest opus, Tarantula Heart (April 19, Ipecac Recordings), is quite possibly the band’s most unconventional, catchiest and imaginative work yet, continuing a legacy celebrated for its eccentric and extraordinary output.

A preview of the five-song, 39-minute collection arrives with the release of “Working The Ditch,” and the accompanying Jesse Nieminen-created video. Nieminen previously directed the band’s short film, “A Walk With Love and Death.”

 “The way we approached Tarantula Heart was different than any other Melvins’ album,” explains Buzz Osborne. “I had Dale and Roy Mayorga 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,” adds long-time Melvins drummer Dale Crover. “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.”

In actuality nothing appeared out of thin air. Buzz spent hours and hours with the drum tracks by himself writing songs to what he was hearing drum wise. “When the rest of the band heard these songs I’d created from the sessions, they were blown away,” Buzz shares. “These were fully developed new songs that they’d never heard before that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Presto!”

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 are available now, with the album available on a trio of vinyl variants (black, indie exclusive Silver Streak and Ipecac Recordings’ 25th Anniversary Puke Green), featuring a 12-page booklet, as well as on CD and digitally.

Next month sees the Melvins head overseas, playing in Japan for the first time since 2019 following a stint where they join current labelmates, Mr. Bungle, for a trek across Australia and New Zealand. Buzz and 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.

Melvins tour dates:
March 3 Auckland, NZ Auckland Town Hall
March 6 Melbourne, AUS Festival Hall
March 7 Adelaide, AUS Hindley Street Music Hall
March 9 Sydney, AUS Hordern Pavilion
March 10 Brisbane, AUS Fortitude Music Hall
March 12 Perth, AUS Metro City
March 17 Osaka, JP Music Club Janus
March 19 Tokyo, JP Shibuya WWW X
March 20 Tokyo, JP Shibuya WWW X

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King Buzzo, the iconic founder and lead vocalist/guitar player for the Melvins, and Mr. Bungle bass player Trevor Dunn, join forces this Summer, teaming up for the “King Dunn Tour,” which kicks off on Aug. 1 at Pappy + Harriet’s in Pioneertown, Calif.

“I’ve been waiting a LONG time to do an acoustic tour with Trevor,” Buzz Osborne shares. “He’s a fantastic player, and has the ability to make his bass sound like an oil tanker crashing into a coral reef.”

Osborne and Dunn have collaborated several times over the years, including Dunn’s participation in King Buzzo’s 2020 album, Gift of Sacrifice, as well as both being members of Fantômas, and Dunn’s work as a part of Melvins Lite. On the “King Dunn Tour,” Dunn will will play a stand-up concert bass, while Osborne will sing and play acoustic guitar.

Tickets are on-sale this Friday, Jan. 26, at 10 am local time. J.D. Pinkus (Butthole Surfers/Melvins) opens on all dates. For additional information, and ticketing links, visit Ipecac.com/tours.

“King Dunn Tour” dates:
August 1 Pioneertown, CA Pappy + Harriet’s
August 2 San Diego, CA Casbah
August 3 Long Beach, CA Alex’s Bar
August 5 Los Angeles, CA Lodge Room
August 6 San Francisco, CA The Chapel
August 7 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s
August 9 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
August 10 Seattle, WA Neumos
August 11 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory Spokane
August 12 Bozeman, MT The ELM
August 14 Salt Lake CITY, UT Urban Lounge
August 16 Fort Collins, CO Aggie Theatre
August 17 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
August 19 Omaha, NE Slowdown
August 20 Saint Paul, MN Turf Club
August 21 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
August 22 Chicago, IL Subterranean
August 23 St. Louis, MO Old Rock House
August 24 Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall
August 26 Grand Rapids, MI The Pyramid Scheme
August 27 Detroit, MI The Shelter
August 28 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop
August 29 Columbus, OH The Basement
August 30 Bethlehem, PA Musikfest Café at the ArtsQuest Center
August 31 Pittsburgh, PA Thunderbird Music Hall
September 1 Jersey City, NJ White Eagle Hall
September 3 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
September 4 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
September 5 Hamden, CT Space Ballroom
September 6 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
September 7 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
September 9 Charlottesville, VA The Southern Café & Music Hall
September 10 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle – Back Room
September 11 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre
September 12 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
September 13 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade – Hell Stage
September 14 Nashville, TN Exit In
September 16 Birmingham, AL Saturn
September 17 New Orleans, LA Siberia
September 18 Baton Rouge, LA Varsity Theatre
September 20 Houston, TX House of Blues – Bronze Peacock
September 21 Austin, TX Antone’s
September 22 Dallas, TX House of Blues – Cambridge Room
September 25 Tucson, AZ 191 Toole
September 26 Phoenix, AZ The Rebel Lounge

King Buzzo, a.k.a. Buzz Osborne, is the singer, guitar player and founder of the enormously influential band, the Melvins. His innovative approach to songwriting, and guitar playing, has influenced countless musicians, and turned leagues of music lovers into ardent fans. Renowned for his pioneering use of down-tuned strings, Buzzo masterfully blended his punk and metal influences, and in turn, he created a groundbreaking new sound in heavy music. Over Osborne’s extensive career, which originated in the small hamlet of Montesano, Wash. in 1983, he has released over 30 albums under the Melvins’ moniker, two solo albums [Gift of Sacrifice (2020) and This Machine Kills Artists (2014)], as well as a number of collaborative projects including Fantômas and Crystal Fairy.

Trevor Dunn might be most widely known for his work with Mr. Bungle, the eclectic and unpredictable Northern California band he co-founded in 1985, but his career outside of Mr. Bungle has been just as notable. Also a member of Fantômas, Trevor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant, Tomahawk and Melvins Lite, Dunn has also written music for various ensembles, performed extensively with John Zorn, and recently formed Riverworm Records, a label home for “discarded, forgotten, and misunderstood music.”

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