Celebrated Drummer Dale Crover has been performing with the Melvins since 1984 when he replaced founding member Mike Dillard, since then he’s had stints with Nirvana and collaborated in projects such as Shrinebuilder, Men of Porn and Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends. Furthermore, he performs with Redd Kross, and has embarked on a solo career, first with the Hard-Rock flavoured Altamont and then the eclectic, experimental compositions under his own name.
Glossolalia (Joyful Noise) then is Crover’s third outing following on from 2017’s The Fickle Finger of Fate and 2021’s Rat-A-Tat-Tat!. Accompanying Dale on this latest release are Dan Southwick, Toshi Kasai, and Mindee Jorgensen as well as special guests Kim Thayil, Ty Segal, Rob Crow, and Tom Waits! With a line-up like that the album is bound to kill, right?
“Glossolalia” refers to the act of speaking in tongues and relates to a surreal experience Crover had in high school when playing drums at a church. A classmate started participating a little too intensely, and voila, the track’s title. After an initial eccentric vocal turn from Waits, the track delves into Surf Rock ala “Ride the Wild/It’s a Hectic World” – era Descendents and bands like The Last. A wonderfully catchy way to open the record. “Doug Yuletide” is a portmanteau of both the underrated Velvet Underground member himself and Yuletide, when it was written. It’s no coincidence then that the midtempo riffing and understated cool vibes aren’t totally unlike that of the Velvets. “I Quit” the first of two tracks to feature Soundgarden legend and Melvins superfan Kim Thayil, is a little darker, influenced as it is by early eighties Post-Punk and New Wave, the vocals especially tipping their hat to Gary Numan. Meanwhile, Thayil’s ripping Psych Rock guitar workouts help give an organic grounded feel to proceedings and to superb effect.
“Blow’d Up” seems to take notes from late seventies Power-Pop in the spirit of Disconnected era Stiv Bators and Canadians The Pointed Sticks. Its hard to believe that such an anthemic number would come from the man who pounded the skins on “Honey Bucket”. “Rings” comes with a hint of Western-style menace with Desert-Rock and Thayil’s exceptional lead playing coming to the fore once again, by contrast “Jane” is playful and fun, reminiscent of one-hit wonders The Knack, demonstrative of Crover’s willingness to experiment and defy expectations. “I Waited Forever” is a wonderfully melancholic hooky gem with traces of the aforementioned Redd Kross present and “Don’t Worry About It” sees Dale taking cues from The Beatles ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, and is particularly poignant and moving, baring similarities in places to Gumball‘s “Marilyn”. Both these tracks showcase a more introspective side to Crover’s repertoire and sees him in possession of a good voice and an ability to pen lyrically deeper fare.
After the two preceding numbers “Spoiled Daisies” is comparatively upbeat with really cool Garage Rock and Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd flavours that are certainly attributable to the presence of Ty Segall. “Kitten Knife” features gloriously Glam Rock-tinged stomping guitar from Crover himself reminding the listener of Ty Segall’s “Tall Man Skinny Lady” and “Punchy” inspired by a dream Altamont bandmate Dan Southwick had features appropriately woozy, trance-like vocals from Dale and a lackadaisical spirit that concludes the album in a manner wilfully contradicting the track’s title.
John Bonham, Phil Rudd, Robo and Mackie Jayson are all great Drummers, but its doubtful they’d have the courage and/or gumption to create albums as creatively daring as Glossolalia. Following Dave Lombardo’s example of taking risks, Crover has produced an absolutely outstanding piece of work.
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9 / 10
REZA MILLS
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