Crystal Fairy was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

supergroup from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

, formed in 2016. The band consisted of

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

Buzz Osborne Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept. Biography Born in Morton, ...

(guitar) and Dale Crover (drums), alongside Le Butcherettes'

Teri Gender Bender Teresa Suárez Cosío (born May 15, 1989), commonly known by her stage name Teri Gender Bender, is an American singer and musician, known primarily as the founding member, lead singer, and guitarist of Guadalajara-based rock band Le Butcherettes ...

(vocals) and

Omar Rodríguez-López Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López (born September 1, 1975) is an American guitarist and songwriter. He has formed or played in several bands, including the Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainbows. He was the bassist for the ...

(bass) of

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership for ...

/ Antemasque fame.

History

Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...

first saw Le Butcherettes open for his friend

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

. Excited by the performance, he told Crover that he wanted to tour with the band. Le Butcherettes opened for the

on different occasions. The bands found common ground and their 2015 shows would typically end with

joining the

onstage to perform covers of

Pop-O-Pies The Pop-O-Pies were an American punk rock band from San Francisco, California founded by Joe Callahan (aka Joe Pop-O-Pie) that got their start by repeatedly playing a cover of The Grateful Dead's "Truckin'". Though the band went through many li ...

' ''Fascists Eat Donuts'' and

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

's '' Rebel Girl''. The latter song was eventually recorded in studio and released in September 2015 on

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an a ...

as a "

feat.

" 7" single. As a result of their kinship, the

and

Gender Bender A gender bender is a person who dresses up and acts like the opposite sex. Bending expected gender roles may also be called a genderfuck. Gender bending may be political, stemming from the early identity politics movements of the 1960s and 19 ...

, along with the addition of

's friend and frequent collaborator

, decided to form a separate band and record an entire album together. During one of the recording sessions, Suárez improvised the line "My name is Crystal Fairy!", likely as a reference to the 2013 Chilean film

Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus ''Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus'' (''Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus and 2012'' as presented onscreen) is a 2013 Chilean adventure comedy film written and directed by Sebastián Silva. The film stars Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffmann. At th ...

. The name stuck with the band. Before that, the band was briefly called Red Alpha Royale (this name still appears on the labels of their debut 7" single "Necklace of Divorce"). After performing several shows together, a booked tour was cancelled and the momentum of the band stopped entirely, with the band “falling apart” per Crover. ''“Buzz and I were really committed to it. We were going to put The Melvins on hold because we thought that it was something that was really special. So that was a tough loss.”''

Band members

- lead vocals *

- guitar, vocals * Dale Crover - drums *

- bass

Discography

Studio albums

*''

Crystal Fairy ''Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus'' (''Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus and 2012'' as presented onscreen) is a 2013 Chilean adventure comedy film written and directed by Sebastián Silva. The film stars Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffmann. At th ...

'' (February 24, 2017)

Singles

*''Necklace of Divorce / Drugs on the Bus'' (October 21, 2016) *''Chiseler'' (December 9, 2016) *''Crystal Fairy'' (January 23, 2017)

References

{{Authority control Ipecac Recordings artists