The Melvins are quite familiar with doing things differently. They’ve released all sorts of cover songs throughout their career, from their take on the “Love Theme from KISS” on 1989′s Ozma to digging up the Paul McCartney deep cut “Let Me Roll It” for their latest album, Freak Puke. Through various split singles and bonus tracks, they’ve covered enough material to compile an album of cover songs, and there are plenty of other artists’ renditions that they’ve only played live. While some of their takes are pretty true to the original, they usually tend to put their own spin on things. Here are five of my favourite Melvins covers, counted down over the next five days.
5. “Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More”
1. “Goin’ Blind”
This is not just my favourite Melvins cover song, but pretty much my favourite Melvins song, period. On their iconic Houdini album, the band took a pretty pedestrian pop song offa KISS’ Hotter Than Hell–albeit one with some wicked, offbeat lyrics–and added grit, groove and a sense of urgency lacking from the original. This is one instance where they’ve clearly outdone their idols–in my humble opinion, of course. And yet, Gene Simmons went with the decidedly more-laid back Dinosaur Jr. version for their 20th anniversary tribute album. For shame!
