Top Ten Albums: Houdini

Almost as good as Joe's Valley is the classic Houdini, by the Melvins.

Despite being a somewhat legendary act and being listed as an influence by nearly every band I liked when I was in high school, I didn't get into the Melvins until college. I distinctly remember hearing Honey Bucket for the first time, riding to class in a friend's car. The song came on randomly and I had no idea what it was or who it was by, but it was so unbelievably heavy that I had to ask. He told me and I stopped by a record store on my way home and bought Houdini having not heard any other song from the album. I was not disappointed.

Expecting to hear heavy, fast songs along the lines of Honey Bucket, I was surprised with how slow the other songs were. Furthermore, I was surprised by how heavy they were. I mean, shit, these songs are heavy. The guitars are tuned low, the bass is cranked, and the distortion on both is so thick you could spread it on a bagel like cream cheese. Cream cheese made from the milk of this goat, probably. And the drums, good lord the drums. Dale Crover is a beast, and his power behind the kit is readily apparent throughout the album. What impressed me the most was how the band managed to play really slow while somehow keeping the songs interesting. Joan of Arc crushes along at a glacial pace while the verses of Hag Me are so slow it feels like the song is falling apart. But the band always seems to come together in the nick of time to move the song forward. Most of this is due to Crover's uncanny ability to keep even the most lethargic beats on time and his knack for entering and exiting a song at all the right moments.


Houdini got me psyched on the Melvins, who in turn opened the door for me to many other bands, like Fantomas, Baroness, Jellow Biafra and the Melvins, ISIS, and Sunn 0))), to name a few.

Anyway, I listened to Houdini all summer, windows rolled down on I-25 in a car with no air conditioning, speakers crackling King Buzzo's demented growl, smashing imaginary drums on the steering wheel to Night Goat. Years later, I can listen to Houdini and feel the same way I did the first time I heard it; confused, excited, and fired up. Be sure to play it loud.