By: David de Young
 Planet Melvin - Photo by David de Young - click for full size version |
Members: Melvin Veach II - guitar/vocals Official website: http://www.planetmelvin.com |
Planet Melvin is a party in a freaking can.
I'm sitting here on a Saturday morning after seeing this Minneapolis three piece for the first time. Normally I would be relaxing on a Saturday mornings with a cup of tea and maybe some quiet jazz on the stereo. But this morning is different. I'm still drinking my tea, but I've got Planet Melvin's 2002 release "Chromosomes in Space" cranked up to about "8". (Primarily recorded at Juniors Motel in Iowa, this CD just begs for volume.) And all I can say is wow, it's a damn good record.
Chromosomes in Space's first track, the single "Havin' Fun" is a radio hit if I ever heard one. (It's already hit the charts in a test release in Europe and has been getting regular airplay on Jason Nagel's Minnesota Music show locally on Cities 97.) Its second track "Sara" is a frenzied and urgent pop/rock song with reggae-ish syncopated guitars. And "Chromacolor Dream" sounds like David Bowie meets T-Rex meets the Clash.
Planet Melvin's songs are poppy, frequently spacey, often weird, and sometimes even a little scary, but they always press forward with rock and roll urgency, commanding your attention. It strikes me that even if you didn't like their music (which is unlikely), you'd still find yourself admitting that it is unquestionably damn good.
Since I write live reviews, not CD recaps, let me take a stab at sharing how much fun these guys are to listen to and look at--even if I know ahead of time I'll fail and be forced to leave you with the tired cliché that "you simply have to see this band live!"
After what appeared to be a thorough check of the stage area for potential pyrotechnics by the 400 Bar management, drummer Melvin Veach III and bass player Iris O'Chez took the stage and started the band's first song. Two men then walked onto the stage with a big Rubbermaid trash can and proceeded to dump the contents, including a some crumpled paper and lead singer/guitarist Melvin Veach II onto the stage. Melvin II is limber and lithe enough to withstand such treatment and still get up to play an over the top glam rock set with enough "woo woo woo's" and "yeah yeah yeah's" thrown in to satisfy even your most hard core early Beatles or Stones fan.
This was the first Planet Melvin show without pyrotechnics, which according to one of their associates had been a big part of their shtick since their inception in 1995. (Pyro is now a nationwide no-no in light of recent events, including the one locally at the Fine Line a few weeks ago. And fire officials and club owners are taking no chances. Bands joke about it here and there at live shows, but actually setting something off would surely win a wiseass musician a quick trip off the stage and straight to jail.) For now, if you attend a Planet Melvin show you'll have to be satisfied with a new lighting device they're still working out the bugs with, and the old standby, the fog machine.
But Planet Melvin doesn't need pyro to be exciting anyway. Flames or no flames, this is some serious head-nodding stuff. (I'd say "head-banging" but Planet Melvin's music is too intelligent and clever to be called that.) It's also an incredibly upbeat brand of party music, a perfect example of that being "Glad," a song from the new album that includes the line "I'm so glad my pants are happy." During this song at Friday's show, Melvin II and Melvin III switched instruments temporarily, Melvin III taking up guitar and Melvin II finishing the song from behind the drum kit, one small demonstration of their musical versatility. Bass player Iris O'Chez, who impressed me with his sweet and right on vocal harmonies and added no small amount of glam rock energy to the front of the stage, has also played everything from trumpet, to drums, to guitar before winding up with PM.
Speaking of "happy pants," one of many varied stage show antics put forth by the energetic and seemingly never stationary Melvin II was rubbing his guitar on his pants in an imitation record scratch effect. When he put his backside to the audience to do the same effect on his bum it was a crowd pleaser, especially among the female fans in the front row.
Although this was Mars to Mercury's CD release party and Planet Melvin were playing the middle slot, there was no lack of Planet Melvin fans present, and many of those fans had already taken to the dance floor by the bands third song. No fewer than three videographers were capturing the event giving the impression that we were all in a music video. More than once the camera panned over me for what will surely be a close-up as I was standing immediately behind one of the cameramen.
Practically spastic in between song banter like, "So you like us? We want you to like us." And "Oh yeah, feels great, here's another" kept the show moving steadily forwards, sometimes with no break between songs as guitar feedback from Veech's guitar often filled all the space between songs.
Towards the end of the set, Planet Melvin played a set highlight, one of their signature songs from an earlier album, "Me and My Alien." This song Veach said, is the song that started planet Melvin, and "If anyone's had an extra terrestrial experience then this song is for you."
"An extra terrestrial" experience is actually a good way of describing what it's like to see Planet Melvin live. In fact, if this show at the 400 was typical, you'll come away from a Planet Melvin show feeling like you just returned from a kick ass party on another planet. Without a hangover.
Location Info:
400 Bar
Artist Info: Planet Melvin
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