A Senile Animal

After years of experiments and conceptual pranks, it’s gratifying to hear the Melvins deliver an outright rock album, no holds barred. Their muscles are ripped and burning like never before. The addition of bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis thickens the group’s assault. The reinforced rhythmic attack is felt especially hard on “The Talking Horse,” “Blood Witch” and “The Hawk.” But just because the new songs are slamming doesn’t mean they've given up being contrarians. In a year when young indie rockers are rediscovering the group’s early slow-burning albums, leave to the Melvins to turn around and embrace the breakneck thrash of “A History Of Drunks” and “Rat Faced Granny,” which ignite with the primal vocals of Willis and Warren. Even amidst all the celebratory brutality, the band offers “Civilized Worm,” a song that achieves a kind of poignancy, at least by Melvins standards. The album’s final three songs form an epic trilogy into which the band throws everything they’ve learned up to this point. This is a furnace of an album — there’s more than enough to keep you warm for a long time to come.