One of the most interesting things about putting together an end-of-year list for me is that, as I go through like this and explain why each release is in the spot it is (confession: this isn’t my first time), I break out the album and give it another listen. And in some cases, like with the Melvins‘ 2010 release, The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac), I haven’t heard the record in months. It’s like visiting an old friend. Or a still semi-new friend, anyway.

The Bride Screamed Murder was released on June 1, and I saw them on the 18th in NYC. I don’t want to say it was immediately after, but probably a week or two later, I put the album away — filed appropriately, of course — and never went back to it again. It’s nothing against either the Melvins or the album itself, I guess I was just done with it.

So, if it seems like The Bride Screamed Murder — which legitimately has some killer tracks (“Evil New War God,” “Pig House,” “Electric Flower” and the creepy “PG X 3” all come to mind) — is low on the list, that’s why. It was a good album, certainly much better than 2008’s Nude with Boots outing, but it wasn’t enough to hold me for the rest of the year, and my fickle attentions turned elsewhere.

And sure, I’ll allow my crap-tastic interview with Buzz Osborne and the hellish nightmare that paying $30 to see them at Webster Hall turned out to be might have something to do with it, but hey, it’s my list, and there are still 18 other albums I listened to and enjoyed more than this one in 2010, so take it for what it’s worth. If you’ve got a complaint, that’s why the comments are there.

Tags: California, Ipecac, Los Angeles, Melvins, Top 20 of 2010

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.