''Gluey Porch Treatments'' is the debut album by American rock band

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 ...

, released in 1987 through Alchemy Records. The original release was vinyl only. The album was later released on

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

with the '' Six Songs'' EP through

Boner Records Boner Records is an American independent record label in Berkeley, California owned by Tom Flynn. It has released recordings by Fang (Flynn's band), Verbal Abuse, MDC, Boneless Ones, Duh, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Melvins, The Warlock Pinchers, ...

and appears as bonus material on the CD version of '' Ozma''. Tracks 18–29 can only be found on the 1999

Ipecac Recordings Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles, ex-lead singer of DUH, ex-employee of Mercury Records) and Mike Patton (Faith No M ...

re-release; these songs are taken from a boombox demo. The album is considered one of the first examples of

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

and a blueprint for

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

Background

"Steve Instant Newman" and "As It Was" are re-recordings of "Disinvite" and "Easy As It Was" respectively, as heard on the '' Six Songs'' EP. "Leeech" was originally a song by

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

entitled "Leech." When Melvins founder

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, Was ...

asked a member of Green River why they never played the song, the reply was that the band thought it was too repetitive and was therefore dropped from their set. The song may have been essentially given to the Melvins on the spot, though Mark Arm has jokingly criticized their claim of ownership of it, teasingly saying that they inappropriately attributed the song to themselves. The song "Eye Flys" appears on the soundtrack for the film, '' Kurt Cobain: About a Son'' and the Melvins live album ''

Sugar Daddy Live ''Sugar Daddy Live'' is a live album by the Melvins, released on May 31, 2011. The songs are taken from their 2008 tour, with the majority of the tracks coming from their two most recent studio albums at the time, '' (A) Senile Animal'' and '' Nu ...

''. "Glow God," "Big As a Mountain" and "Heaviness of the Load" appear on the Alchemy Records compilation album ''Peace Thru Chemistry''. The title track ''Gluey Porch Treatments'' was re-recorded and released in 2001 on their thirteenth album ''

Electroretard ''Electroretard'' is the thirteenth album by the Melvins, which was released in 2001 through Man's Ruin Records. The album contains an experiment in backmasking ("Shit Storm"), three covers and four reworked versions of old Melvins songs. Althou ...

''.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Ned Raggett praised the album, writing: "Drawn-out syllables at the end of lines descending into murk, bellowing half-understandable insanities, flanged warbles and squeals: It's all there."

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

described it as heavier and better than

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Track listing

All songs written by Buzz Osborne except where noted.

Side one

Side two

1999 CD reissue bonus tracks

Personnel

Matt Lukin Matthew David Lukin (born August 16, 1964) is an American former musician, best known as a bassist and founding member of the Melvins and Mudhoney. Career Melvins (1983–1987) Lukin co-founded the Melvins in 1983 with guitarist/vocalist B ...

– bass guitar, vocals *

– vocals, guitar,

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

on 1999 Ipecac reissue *

Dale Crover Dale Crover (born October 23, 1967) is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and has also been the drummer for Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, Crystal Fairy and, for a brief time, Nirvana. He is also guitarist an ...

– drums

Additional personnel

Mark Deutrom Mark Deutrom is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and producer, best known as the guitarist for the punk rock band Clown Alley in the 1980s, and as the bassist for the multi-genre rock band Melvins from 1993 to 1998. Career In the ear ...

– producer, mixing *Carl Herlofsson – engineer, mixing *David Musgrove – second engineer *

Victor Hayden Victor Hayden (August 16, 1948 – December 7, 2018), also known by his stage name The Mascara Snake, was an American painter and musician. Biography Hayden was a cousin of Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart. Hayden joined Beefhear ...

– original artwork, executive producer *

Mackie Osborne Mackie Osborne is an American artist responsible for the design and illustrations of many music albums since the 1980s. She is a member of the band Fleabag and has contributed to many albums on packaging artwork, layout design and art direction. ...

– new artwork on 1999 Ipecac reissue

References

{{Authority control Melvins albums 1987 debut albums Ipecac Recordings albums Alchemy Records (U.S.) albums Boner Records albums Sludge metal albums Grunge albums