Melvins, At the Drive-In and Le Butcherettes Members Unite as Crystal Fairy

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Oct 4, 2016

In addition to maintaining many Melvins lineups, the band's Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover have announced another project to keep themselves busy. This time, they've teamed up with Le Butcherettes vocalist Teri Gender Bender and At the Drive-In guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez as Crystal Fairy, and new music from the stacked combo lands this fall.

The quartet will first launch the two-song "Drugs on the Bus"/"Necklace of Divorce" on October 10 through Amphetamine Reptile. The limited-edition 7-inch precedes a forthcoming self-titled full-length, which is due February 24 via Ipecac.

The impetus for Crystal Fairy began when Melvins took Le Butcherettes on tour and began inviting Teri Gender Bender up onstage during their headlining set to play Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl."

"It was almost always the highlight of the show!" Crover said of the cover in a statement. "From doing that, we knew there was some chemistry between us that was worth exploring. We became close friends with both Teri and Omar on the tour and came up with the idea of starting a new band with them."

The cover, which was also captured in the studio, led the musicians to contemplate working on bigger things. Soon enough, Rodriguez-Lopez, whose At the Drive-In toured with Le Butcherettes this year, was drafted into the project. Songwriting sessions took place in El Paso and Los Angeles, resulting in an 11-song debut.

While Melvins have mutated into a number of different iterations over the years, Osborne noted that he "knew this was something different and deserved to have its own identity."

You can get the first taste of Crystal Fairy at the bottom of the page via a stream of "Drugs on the Bus." As you'll discover via the tracklisting below, the song is also on the upcoming LP.

The Crystal Fairy 7-inch is one of many Melvins-related projects to land in 2016. Already, the band offered up their many-membered Basses Loaded release, the long-in-the-works Three Men and a Baby release with godheadsilo bassist Mike Kunka and a trio of '90s-era represses via Third Man Records. Crover also issued a solo EP, the "world's first-ever 12-sided 10-inch record," which precedes a full-length solo set due in 2017.

Crystal Fairy:

1. Chiseler
2. Drugs on the Bus
3. Necklace of Divorce
4. Moth Tongue
5. Crystal Fairy
6. Secret Agent Rat
7. Under Trouble
8. Bent Teeth
9. Posesión
10. Sweet Self
11. Vampire X-Mass

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