Melvins: Houdini [THIRD MAN]

Why you'll love it

Third Man remastered this 180g pressing straight from the original analog tapes, housed it in a gatefold jacket and added an exclusive vinyl track, MC5's "Rocket Reducer #62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)." "Hooch," "Lizzy" and "Honey Bucket" were all issued as singles with videos.

This edition

• Remastered from the original analog tapes
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Exclusive vinyl bonus track

About the album

Signing to a major label without a manager sounds like a risky move, but the Melvins came out of it with a contract most bands would envy. Kurt Cobain had talked them up to Atlantic president Danny Goldberg, and the deal gave them total creative control, with no label reps allowed in the studio. Buzz Osborne said the title nodded to the idea that they might vanish from Atlantic after one album; they stayed for three.

Recorded across studios in San Francisco and Seattle, with Garth Richardson also producing, Houdini pairs sludge-thick riffs with oddball hooks. Cobain shares a co-production credit on part of it and plays guitar on "Sky Pup." "Hooch" opens with a crushing stomp, "Night Goat" reworks a song from a 1992 single, "Honey Bucket" is a quick, sharp rush, and "Going Blind" turns a Kiss deep cut into a slow, heavy crawl. "Hag Me" and "Joan of Arc" lumber along in glorious low gear, and "Pearl Bomb" closes the original running order.

Andrew Earles later picked it for his book Gimme Indie Rock. For a band who named an album after an escape artist, the Melvins have shown no talent whatsoever for disappearing; they're still at it more than 30 years later.

Also at Kops: more Melvins on vinyl · browse Metal

Tracklist

Listen

On Third Man (cat# TMR-295), a reissue of the 1993 album.