Melvins

• Genre: Grunge
• Hometown: Aberdeen
• Melvins Website

About

Every last Grunge star cited the Melvins as a major influence in their sound, but none of them produced anything as heavy. They may have taken ten albums to produce a single hook, but the Melvins' sludge-caked, Sabbath-inspired tracks are undeniably a force of grandeur. They embody the strange contradiction of being exceptional musicians who personify apathetic stoner kids. At first listen, the Melvins produce filthy hesher rock, but through time, layers of fuzz and distortion reveal themselves as masterful arrangements, even as they become as overwhelming as a night of huffing tar. Even Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Helicopter String Quartet" sounds feathery after two minutes of the Melvins' Lysol. Don't forget to lift with your knees.

- Marc Kate