Crystal Fairy Holds Back Nothing on Audacious Debut (ALBUM REVIEW)

[rating=8.00]crystal fairy

In a way, it was inevitable. The marriage between Teri Gender Bender, lead singer for Le Butcherettes and Bosnian Rainbows, and the Melvins has been teetering towards existence for years now. With several tours together under their belt and a King Buzzo appearance on a 7”, it really only seemed like a matter of time. In fact, both Buzz and Teri discussed the possibility with us back in 2015. And now it’s happened. The formidable grunge buzz of the Melvins has united with the singular presence of Teri Gender Bender in the form of Crystal Fairy, whose eponymous debut is yet another knockout punch from the current leading lady of rock and fucking roll.

At the table are Teri, her mentor Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (Mars Volta, At the Drive-in) on bass, King Buzzo himself on guitars, and his Melvins cohort Dale Crover on drums. On the menu is nothing but pure rock fury, forcefully served on a platter of solid gold. There’s enough here to satisfy the oldest Melvins fans and the younger Le Butcherettes-heads, with each element adding to a whole much grander than the sum of its parts.

The same brand of heady distortion Melvins fans have come to adore for three decades are on showcase here. You’re never far from crunchy grooves when King Buzzo is in the house, and Crystal Fairy is fueled by the delicious chunk of Buzzo’s guitar as any Melvins classic. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and you’d be hard pressed to find anything hard enough to break the Melvins formula.

Here, it serves to enhance Teri Gender Bender’s no holds barred vocal styles. Her sweet croon can turn into a vicious bark with little warning, displaying a range that makes her one of the most interesting singers in rock today. Relatively speaking, she might be a newcomer to the scene, but she delivers with the intensity and confidence of someone with decades of experience and miles of road behind them.

While the stars of the show are Buzz and Teri, Dale and Omar form a formidable rhythm section, holding things down with a solid attack that keeps the project glued together. Teri and Omar’s familiarity, along with Buzz and Dale’s, create a cohesion that makes Crystal Fairy sound a feel like a polished follow up more than a debut, and the rhythmic interplay of the bass and drums go a long way to adding depth and dimension to a project that risks crumbling under the weight of its stars.

Rather than succumbing to the normal trappings of a supergroup, however, Crystal Fairy sound like a band unto their own. This is no mere attempt to cash in on the fame of their members, this is a fully actualized project that stands as well on its own as it does as a complement to the catalogues of its members.

That’s to be expected, however. Between the four of them, there’s about a century’s worth of experience at the table here, and they all know what they’re doing. Crystal Fairy a tightly crafted, heavy delight for fans and newcomers alike and an absolute must listen.

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