Around the time that bassist/vocalist Mike Kunka’s band godheadSilo went on what eventually turned out to be a permanent hiatus back in 1998, Kunka busied himself by tagging along on a tour with The Melvins. At some point the members of The Melvins — King Buzzo (guitar, bass, vocals), Dale Crover (drums, vocals) and Kevin Rutmanis (bass, vocals)– along with Kunka decided to record an album together under the apt moniker Mike and the Melvins. Sub Pop Records agreed to fund and release the indie All-Star act’s effort, and the newly minted quartet went into the studio sometime in 1999 with the album slated for release back in 2000.
As the story goes, after some self-described “junior-high level bullshit,” some children were had, some record label disputes, an illness or two, surgeries and stolen gear among other things, the unfinished album wound up languishing and collecting dust on someone’s shelf. Surprisingly, last year Kunka, King Buzzo, Crover and Rutmanis reconvened, finished the album now titled Three Men and a Baby and sent it to Sub Pop Records, who then promptly scheduled its release for April 1, 2016.
“Chicken n Dump,” the first single off the forthcoming Three Men and a Baby is punishingly loud, mosh-pit worthy song consisting of layers of sludgy power chords, crunchy bass, thundering drumming, howled vocals and shout along-worthy hooks. Arguably one of the hardest songs released this year, it manages to sound as though it were released 20 years ago while being remarkably contemporary as the song sonically speaking compares favorably to the likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden — and even METZ.
