Watch Melvins’ trippy video for their cover of Soundgarden’s Spoonman

Melvins Spoonman video — (Image credit: Amphetamine Reptile)

Melvins have released a mind-warping video for their cover of Soundgarden’s Spoonman, taken from their new Lord Of The Flies EP.

The cover features Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron playing alongside Dale Crover, with Steven McDonald (Red Kross/OFF!), a Melvins member since 2015, on bass.

Melvins originally performed the cover as part of their six-song set opening the I Am The Highway Chris Cornell tribute concert in Los Angeles in January 2019.

The four-track Lord Of The Flies EP features two new Melvins songs - Never Say You’re Sorry and The Receiver & The Empire State - earmarked for inclusion on the band’s next studio album, their take on Spoonman and Misty Mountain Urge, which mashes together Led Zeppelin’s Misty Mountain Hop and Devo’s The Uncontrollable Urge. It”s available to order now, on the Amphetamine Reptile label.

Melvins mainman Buzz Osborne recently told Metal Hammer why he sacked Kurt Cobain as the band’s producer during the recording of the band’s major label debut Houdini.

“During the last part of him being there, he was a mess, drug-wise,” Osborne said. “I went to Atlantic, and said I couldn’t make it work with him. I had no interest in going public with Kurt’s problems - I didn’t feel it was anybody’s business - I just wanted him off the project, and that’s when we got [RATM producer] GGGarth Richardson .”

There would be no Nevermind-esque rise to superstardom for Melvins when Atlantic issued Houdini in September 1993, even with Kurt Cobain’s name attached to the album, and his guitar playing featuring on the song Sky Pup. But the moderate success of the collection kept Atlantic on board for two subsequent albums from Osborne’s group.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.