REVIEW: King Dunn, JD Pinkus, Titan To Tachyons at Music Hall of Williamsburg | 09.04.2024
King Dunn, the duo collaboration of Melvins frontman Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne and Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, embarked on a U.S. tour at the top of last month. Supporting them on the run is former Melvins and Butthole Surfers bassist JD Pinkus.
While King Buzzo is synonymous with crushing distortion from amps turned to eleven (I think my eardrums are still healing from seeing Melvins a decade ago), King Dunn is stripped down: just an acoustic guitar and an upright bass. Still, as one can hear on their 2020 release Gift of Sacrifice, and as I experienced at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday, the duo don't need to crank their amps to create powerful tunes.
TITAN TO TACHYONS
Not to let us escape a Buzzo show without some high-decibel intensity, local jazz metal outfit Titan to Tachyons were on hand to open the evening and scratch that itch. The instrumental trio's set was a pleasant surprise that started with me wondering "what band is this?" and changed very quickly to "WHAT BAND IS THIS?!". Titan to Tachyons created chaos with precision, their sound unapologetically experimental and all the more impressive for it.
SONG OF THE SET: "Morphing Machineminds"
JD PINKUS
Armed with a banjo, a pedalboard and a bit of humor, JD Pinkus delivered what would become one of my favorite performances that I've covered this year. Pinkus' use of live looping and audio manipulation added cosmic dimension to his rugged space folk sound – like floating down a river on LSD.
On top of his original material, Pinkus included a few covers. His reimagining of “Bride of Crankenstein,” which was humorously introduced as “a cover of a song I wrote”, was particularly epic.
SONG OF THE SET: "Bride of Crankenstein"
KING DUNN
King Dunn opened with a mesmerizing rendition of Melvin's "Hung Bunny," the swaying repetition of the melody becoming meditative as the chords shifted back and forth. The song was but one of many Melvins songs included in duo’s set; hearing the songs unplugged highlighted some of the lesser realized influences and impact that Buzzo’s songwriting has had on so many bands, particularly on 90’s grunge. Also showcased were King Dunn originals such as “Eat The Spray” and “I Like Stuff Clean.”
Despite the instrumentation being scaled back, Buzzo’s intensity was anything but. Trevor Dunn gave a commanding performance on the double bass that added a haunting depth to the songs. Dunn found unique ways to pull sounds from the bass, making it sound, as Buzzo has described, “like an oil tanker crashing into a coral reef.” They ended the night with a cover of KISS classic “Shock Me” and a plethora of audience calls for an encore.
SONG OF THE SET: "Boris"
King Dunn's tour continues through the end of the month, capping off at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix on September 26th. Be sure to check out Ipecac's Tour page for the remaining dates and associated ticket links.