Melvins

(The) Melvins
Coady Willis, King Buzzo, Jared Warren, Dale Crover
Background information
Origin	Montesano, Washington, USA
Genre(s)	Grunge Alternative metal Alternative rock Hardcore Punk (early demos)
Years active	Early 1980s–present
Label(s)	C/Z Records Alchemy Records Boner Records Your Choice Records Atlantic Records Amphetamine Reptile Records Man's Ruin Records Ipecac Recordings Alternative Tentacles
Associated acts	Altamont Fantômas Porn Lustmord Thrones Big Business
Website	Official website
Members
Buzz Osborne Dale Crover Jared Warren Coady Willis

The Melvins are an American rock band that usually perform as a trio. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne (aka "King Buzzo") and drummer Dale Crover are constant members, but several bass guitarists have been through the group. The band was named after a supervisor at the Thriftway in Montesano, Washington where Osborne served as a clerk (and vandal). Melvin was greatly despised, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.

The Melvins' music is influenced by Black Flag's My War era punk, slow rock acts like Flipper and Swans, and, most notably Black Sabbath-style metal, but their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentation make neat categorization difficult. The Melvins often favor very slow tempos, and their sludgey sound was a strong influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana and many other bands from Seattle. Their protegés, however, tended to use more conventional musical structures with this sound. The Melvins have influenced many doom metal bands, most explicitly Boris, who took their name from one of the Melvins' songs.

Though the group has received mostly positive critical notice, Crover's drumming has been especially praised; Patrick Kennedy describes his work as "astonishing, powerful, and daring."

While never finding and probably never even seeking mainstream success, the Melvins have a dedicated cult following. They maintain an impressive schedule of new albums and tours, including two releases with former Dead Kennedys front man Jello Biafra. The band has been colloquially known as "Jelvins" during Biafra's tenure with the band. In appreciation of their devoted fans, the Melvins have released various collectables throughout the years. These have included two-headed dolls, an eight track tape, a plastic fetus in a jar, and a myriad of various posters, t-shirts and one-off fanzines.