The Melvins played a big part in the development of grunge and sludge metal in the 1980s and early 1990s, and now in their fifth decade together, the veteran rockers are still going strong. Working With God is their 24th album (not including split records) and, though they’ve been through all sorts of personnel changes over the years, this new release finds them back in their original 1983 lineup of Buzz Osborne (vocals / guitars), Dale Crover (bass), and Mike Dillard (drums).

The group, who took their name from a particularly unpopular supervisor at a Thriftway store in Montesano, Washington where Buzz worked in his youth, have always specialised in loud, chaotic, and wild tunes with a healthy dose of the absurd. Working With God is no exception (a quick scan of the tracklist reveals there’s not one but two songs called Fuck You), and it’s a record that starts in typical Melvins fashion. 

Opening track I Fuck Around is – wait for it – a reworking of the Beach Boys classic I Get Around, which is ludicrous and silly, but an awful lot of fun too. Brian The Horse-Faced Goon is similarly bonkers, a hectic mix crunching guitars and weird lyrics. Boy Mike and Caddy Daddy are two of the highlights here, combining big, loud, distorted guitars and pounding drums that are up there with the Melvins long list of career highlights.

And that’s sort of symbolic of both this album, and the Melvins as a whole. For every middle-finger-raised wild and wacky track, there’s a cleverly constructed, high octane and fully committed counterpart. And they still have the capacity to spring a surprise, such as on album closer Goodnight Sweetheart, a genuine all out a cappella affair.

A band like the Melvins will always be so closely entwined with their history that every new release will always prompt a revisiting of their long and impressive career. But Waiting With God shows that they’re still going strong, and have stuck to their roots admirably. 

Working With God tracklist:

1. I Fuck Around
2. Negative No No
3. Bouncing Rick
4. Caddy Daddy
5. Brian, The Horse-Faced Goon (intro)
6. Brian, The Horse-Faced Goon 
7. Boy Mike
8. Fuck You (intro)
9. Fuck You
10. The Great Good Place
11. Hot Fish
12. Hund
13. Goodnight Sweetheart

Listen to The Great Good Place here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.