Rat-A-Tat-Tat! - Vinyle Violet

Description

Rat-a-Tat-Tat! Is that the sound of the Grim Reaper knocking at your door to collect your soul or Dale Crover hammering his drums? There's a good chance it's the latter. Between 36 years (and about as many albums and EPs) as drummer/bassist for the Melvins and his equally varied contributions to Altamont, Peeping Tom, Redd Kross, Shrinebuilder, and a small band called Nirvana, he has built up a rather impressive body of work. In 2017, he added a true solo album to his resume, Fickle Finger of Fate. Today, it's followed by Rat-a-Tat-Tat! Dale Crover takes this solo project seriously: he wrote the album while on tour and provides vocals, drums, guitars, vibraphone, and various percussion. As with the last album, recording took place at Toshi Kasai's Sound of Sirens Studio in California. The album is once again recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Kasai under the name Deaf Nephews. Renowned graphic designer Mackie Osborne created the album's artwork. So what's different this time? For this new album, Dale put together a real band to help him. We find Steve McDonald of Redd Kross on bass, Kasai (ex-Big Business and Plan D) on keyboards, synths, jawharp, and backing vocals, while Mindee Jorgensen (Dangerously Sleazy) provides additional percussion and a bit of saxophone. Finally, his former Altamont bandmate, Dan Southwick, plays bass on "Tougher," a track Crover co-wrote with Kasai. While madness certainly abounds on Rat-a-Tat-Tat!, there are also surprisingly melodious and pop moments. Dale notably claims that "Shark Like Overbite," inspired by his three dogs, is perhaps the most pop song he has ever written. The album is an eclectic mix that draws on song fragments stored for years for a result that is as coherent as it is unique!