Nude With Boots

Melvins have been slowing heavy metal to its primal, molten essence since the early '80s, recording a deluge of material and burning through band members in the process. Their latest, NUDE WITH BOOTS, the second with Coady Willis and Jared Warren (better known as the rumbling duo Big Business), features a lighter touch than its predecessor, (A) SENILE ANIMAL. Given their universally acknowledged conquest of sludgy heaviness, they're taking a minute to explore something a little different, with the songs on NUDE WITH BOOTS recalling '70s boogie with adventurous, free-wheeling guitar playing. "Suicide in Progress" features wicked, snaky arena-blues chops, while "The Smiling Cobra" combines the Melvins' trademark thick, dark brew with a healthy dose of big-rock posturing. Despite the addition of Big Business, the band feels fully integrated, as if they've been playing together for a long time.