The Melvins have always had a special place in my heart. They are underground to the core, making music for 30 years and yet whenever I mention them to a friend I only receive confused looks in response. To try to define or even explain them would not do the band justice. They are a band that just does whatever they want. Whether that be punk, metal, grunge or what have you, which makes them awesome and weird all at once.

Their newest album really shows off how true that sentiment is. “Everybody loves sausages” is an album of covers, some familiar like Queen and David Bowie, and some I’ve never even heard of. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to dissect the entire album like I usually do, so I’ll just talk about the things I noticed most.

First, I like the fact that with a Melvins album, you never really know what you’re going to get, which keeps the listener on their toes at all times. Since these were covers, I was excited to see how they would change from the originals, and from the many varied bands that were covered I was not disappointed. The first song “Warhead” a cover of a Venom song, was sludge metal through and through. It was trudging and heavy riffs and vocals that sounded like they came from the Goblin King. It was in true Melvin’s fashion (though the singer of Neurosis did the vocals for that song.) The second song was a jarring shift and tone, taking out the sludge and adding a synth for an upbeat rendition of You’re Me Best Friend, a Queen cover (Which kind of turns into a bad acid trip half way through). It’s like we changed albums suddenly. That’s another interesting thing about this band, they make each song their own in different ways. Sometimes by changing the mood and sometimes just by adding trippy sound effects to it.

This album is as varied as the many bands covered by it, which is completely interesting since most covers you head by bands often all have the same vibe as the band, the Melvins have a very eclectic  style  and will change up the mood many times, something I’ve seen with other prog bands, but even more so here. They are truly a and that has played exactly the kind of music they’ve wanted to their whole careers, and they aren’t really concerned who comes for a ride.

The Melvins aren’t exactly for everyone, due to the fact that their songs and general atmosphere can bit quite bizarre, but it is worth a listen if you have an open mind and a interest in a few genres of music. If you can enjoy punk, hard rock, sludge metal, some electronic and poppy music, then I would check “Everybody Loves Sausages” as well as all the bands that The Melvins cover in this album. You might discover one more new band than you bargained for.