Album Review: Melvins - Pinkus Abortion Technician

Feared and famed for their low, sludgy grooves, Melvins' recent Basses Loaded album featured a veritable carousel of six bass players rotating across various tracks.

Here, they pair that number down to two - Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers) and Steven McDonald (Red Kross, OFF!) - playing together at the same time.

With that in mind, you'd be forgiven for expecting something in line with their most experimental or hellish work, like the sewer crawl of their first album. But for the most part, it's quite a light-hearted, poppy affair with tunes the postman could whistle. It might not be such a surprise to those who caught Melvins' last tour down under, where McDonald impressed with his spontaneity and showmanship. In that spirit of cheerful recklessness, there are a handful of covers, not least I Want To Hold Your Hand, by, y'know, that band, which starts lustily and fairly conventionally, before descending into a chaotic sinkhole of noise.

Some bands mellow as they get older, some get jaded or more conservative, but it says something for Buzz Osborne and co's collective strength of character that they're still having this much fun on their umpteenth studio album.