Get Yer Ba-Ba's Out

Dale Crover looks a lot like Neil Young-enough so that Neil himself recruited Crover to play the, um, young version of himself in the iconic ""Harvest Moon"" video. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified to cover the song than Crover, owing to his presence in the video and to his long history as a solo artist and over his 43-year tenure as drummer for the Pacific Northwest rock institution Melvins. Crover's version of ""Harvest Moon"" opens his new EP, Get Yer Ba-Ba's Out, and barges into a rendition of Melvins' Stag classic ""The Bit,"" because Crover wrote the guitar part-it's in the same key, and why the hell not? The EP additionally features acoustic renditions of three songs from Crover's solo album Glossolalia (""Doug Yuletide,"" ""Rings,"" and ""Jane""), one from 2021's Rat-A-Tat-Tat! (""I Can't Help You There""), and the brand-new title track.This intimate setting of Crover's songs here contrasts with the electric, guest-heavy Glossolalia, which featured a rare cameo from Tom Waits and guest features from kindred spirit Ty Segall and fellow Northwest legend Kim Thayil of Soundgarden. Yet it'd be hard to call this music stripped-down-it feels more like a further development on the glam-damaged power pop Crover's been producing since he kicked off the second phase of his solo career on 2017's The Fickle Finger of Fate. Kasai's arrangements fill the available empty space with slide guitar, Jew's harp, assorted bells and other idiophones. And though the instrument on which Crover made his name is absent, replaced by a distant smattering of hand drums, the spirit of his music has never been clearer-a restless desire to explore new territory combined with a deep love of rock 'n' roll, the same that built the Melvins into one of the most interesting and influential bands of their generation.