For the last decade, the Melvins have absolutely shat on their seminal status. Their antics have ranged from gimmicky (releasing a single for every month in 1996) to kitschy (kicking off 1999's Crybaby with Leif Garrett belting out a cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit") to just plain wimpy (2005's limp-wristed live recording of Houdini in its entirety). Due to these bloopers, there was much head-shaking and sighing to be had when the band, now reduced to a putative duo consisting of King Buzzo and drummer Dale Crover, announced their merger with L.A. drums/bass metal band Big Business earlier this year. That's right, as if the band's recent tomfoolery hadn't marred their first proper release in four years, they now sport two drummers, the pinnacle of rock absurdity.
What a pleasant surprise then that (A) Senile Animal stands as the band's most no-frills, accessible, and flat-out best album since Stoner Witch. Hostile Ambient Takeover from 2002 didn't testify to it, but you can find the Melvins's legendary sound speckled all over today's metal bands. Animal reclaims the stoner rock the Melvins ruled before Kyuss and Queens of the Stone age co-opted it, and Boris owes much of their recent hipster metal success (not to mention moniker) to the band's early sound, reincarnated here on tracks like "Rat-Faced" and "You've Never Been Right".
That said, Animal is less a blast from the past than a retooling of the Melvins' strongest albums following a more conservative mindset. The opening of "Civilized Worm" doffs its cap to catchy 70s arena rock, pounding out the chords to Cheap Trick's "Need Your Love" over a bare bones blues beat straight off of Machine Head. "A History of Drunks" follows suit, propping up King Buzzo's singsong melody with multi-tracked vocals and a middle section replete with handclaps and a surprisingly tender new wave guitar line.
These nuanced exceptions aside, the Melvins churn out their signature straightforward metal sludge by the barrelful on Animal, and no one's complaining about that. Three six-plus minute tracks grind the album to a close, each harkening back to classic slow burners like "Night Goat" and "Hag Me". Even the twin assault on drums comes together nicely as Crover and Big Business mercenary Coady Willis place their intersecting fills at loggerheads for our amusement on "A History of Bad Men". For all their recent boners and elbow-rubbing with Ipecac's weirdest, this newfangled Melvins outfit has sobered up to concoct a return-to-roots album, one that simultaneously cements their monolithic mark on metal while promising there's more gas left in the tank to keep on thrashin'.
