Reviews
Mel’s EP is a hand grenade of music bursting with a billion big guitars. Their CD Tantric is full of completely revved, high voltage rock. The band’s proverbial foot is to the floor and smoke is pouring out from under the wheels. Songs like "They Say" possess a raw unleashed energy reminiscent of rock bands like The Doors yet have the youthful vigor of modern bands like Pearl Jam. Their songs are charged with energy and secured with solid production. One small, diminutive, itsy bitsy, minikin comment to make. Behind brilliant phrasing and powerful melodies are nebulous lyrics. They sometimes leave you listening to a gripping voice, great music and cool effects with only one question in mind. What’s missing? The dark ideas and story lines are intriguing, but not convincing. These guys have all of the rest of it down though. The strengths of this release are numerous. If you have an appetite for straight ahead rock...here’s where you can get it!
Fran Gray
Copyright © JAM magazine
Willamette' Week's NXNW review:
MEL
ASH STREET SALOON
There are so many Eddie Vedder vannabes [sic] these days, you'd think an entire generation had a congenital speech defect, causing them to pronounce every vowel like an R ("I see" comes out as "Ahhrrr seeeearrr"). Unfortunately, most of these boys can't sing; Pete Donnell from Mel can, though, and he's such a good impersonator that he makes Stone Temple Pilots sound as close to Pearl Jam as Barney the Dinosaur. The rest of Mel is equally adroit at creating the rousing crescendos and thoughtful pauses necessary to keep Donnell's emotional roller coaster at top rocking speed. (JG)
Northshore Bar & Grill - June 8th, 2001
Friday night crowds in a small town tend to take on a dynamic of their own, Friday night's Mel show was certainly case in point. A little after 10:00 Mel took to the tiny stage at the Northshore Bar & Grill in Bingen, Washington. Many of the faces in the crowd were familiar, hardcore fans that had made the 2 hour drive North to see Mel. Others were there to see The Dragonflies, who were the local favorites and headlined the show. There were also locals that had no where else to be on a Friday night. Unlike a Portland show, the fans tended to stay a few feet away from the stage, there wasn't the usually raucous jumping fans up front, just a little mellow hip rocking and toe tapping. Nonetheless, the show was great!
The band opened with Look in The Ocean and the new tune When I was Young, and although the band admittedly had not practised in several weeks, they were tight and the fans loved it. The rest of the set was Happy Ignorant, Better Than Him, My Body My Brain, Take, Superfly, Butterfly, Gutted, Lie Awake and Not All of the Above. Mel closed the show with crowd favorite Pure Honey. The show was a fun one, while the band members smiled and laughed about a few mistakes, they took a five minute break to fix a broken guitar string on Jimmy's axe.
The band spent the rest of the night mingling with the crowd, taking photos with fans and catching up with the locals. The party ended at about two in the morning and the band made their way back into Portland to get a few hours rest before the next night's show at The Ohm.
The Ohm - March 3, 2001
A Mel show is not unlike a ride on a trampoline. The entourage that follows the band from club to club does their best impression of a Masai mating ritual, bouncing in step to each hard driven beat. Local favorites Mel took the stage late Saturday night in front of an Ohm crowd that was already hyped up from Smooch Knob's set. Blasting into 'Take' they set the mood for their set, hard, fast, and loud, and the crowd ate it up singing along and continuing to jump in rythym to every hammer on the drums. Next up was another track from Mel's first self released album, 'Look in the Ocean', with passionate delivery this song is the band's signature 'ballad'.
The band also introduced some of the new material working it's way onto their soon-to-be-released third album. 'When I was Young' led out, 'My Body My Brain' and 'Pure Honey' (which true Mel fans know as 'Sweet') came later in the set. 'Pure Honey' shows the turn towards jazz influenced rock of the new album. The swing and grooves of the new material, and Pete Donnell promising to make love all night had the women in the crowd swinging their hips and batting their eyes.
It is probably 'Happy Ignorant' that fans the flames of the bouncing pit the hardest. With it's raucous lyrics and Stuart Packer's hard driving bass line this song will surely make the forthcoming album a best seller. 'Gutted' and 'Superfly Butterfly' from Tantric, the band's second album, came after the new stuff and wound the large crowd up even further. 'Secret Affair', another new track, and 'Keep Walking' ended out the set. The fans however drew them back to the stage for a rousing cover of Nirvana's 'Breed'. Mel is fast finding a place as THE band to see on a Saturday night, and their St. Patrick's Day show at the Cobalt should prove no different.
Review by Tania Lang - for Indie Avenue
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