Next week, indie rock supergroup Crystal Fairy will release their debut self-titled album through Ipecac Recordings.
Crystal Fairy is: Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes, Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover of the Melvins, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of At The Drive-In and Mars Volta. The 11-track LP was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Toshi Kasai and in El Paso, Texas at Omar's studio.
Buzz Osborne talked about working on the record in an interview with Rolling Stone:
It's one of my favorite things I've ever done. I guess the one thing I really liked was being able to write songs that Teri could sing. I think she's an unbelievable talent. It was a privilege to me to be able to write songs and then have somebody write lyrics and sing along to melodies that I'd written in such a great way. It's not something that I take lightly. At all. I love it. It was a joy and a pleasure to work with Teri. One of the high points of my career to me. And I've had a lot of 'em. I'm a very, very fortunate and hard-working guy.
When you have this many accomplished musicians from different backgrounds, those unique personalities inevitably bring a wide range of ideas together. Throughout the album, the band stay true to the sludgy rock style of the Melvins, built around Buzz's distorted guitar riffs and Dale's thunderous drums. Omar brings his own progressive, experimental style to the table, while Teri Gender Bender's vocals range from serious and menacing to playful.
Some might find the songs to be too all over the place in terms of rhythm and composition, but Crystal Fairy prove themselves to be a band that are comfortable exploring and covering a lot of ground. In this writer's opinion, they skillfully craft a mix of punk, metal, and grunge elements in a way that stands out and grabs you by the ears.
Songs we like are "Chiseler," "Drugs on the Bus," "Crystal Fairy," "Necklace of Divorce," and "Vampire X-Mas."
Crystal Fairy is scheduled to be released on February 24, 2017. Pick it up on Amazon. You can also stream the full LP above for free, via SoundCloud.
For more, check out the Crystal Fairy Zumic artist page.
