[Editor's note: Over the holiday season, SonicNet is looking back at 1999's top stories, chosen by our editors and writers. This story originally ran on Wednesday, June 23.]

The Melvins don't seem to be sure if their cover of Nirvana's signature

hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a homage or a goof.

The music is faithful to the original, but the sludge-core band recruited

'80s teen idol Leif Garrett to sing it for an upcoming Melvins album

called The Crybaby.

"We saw [Garrett's] VH1 special and we thought: 'What a bummer — this

dude really got burned and forced into doing these disco hits,' " Melvins

drummer Dale Crover said. "He really wanted to rock. We thought: 'That

dude speaks our lingo.' So the dude who runs Ipecac [the Melvins' label,

owned by former Faith No More singer Mike Patton] called someone he knows

at VH1 and we called him up."

Crover, 31, said the band hewed closely to the music of Nirvana's original

version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (RealAudio excerpt),

the grunge landmark that catapulted Nirvana to stardom in 1991. Then

Garrett added a vocal track earlier this year in Los Angeles.

"Oh, 'Smells Like Teen Idol,' " Garrett said, chuckling. "That's what I

call it. ... I didn't really want to do the vocals exactly like the original

because I don't want to set myself up with a comparison, and second of

all — why try and imitate something that was done to perfection in

the first place?" Garrett said he changed the key and melody of the vocals

slightly.

The 37-year-old-singer and actor, best known to music fans for his 1978

disco pop hit "I Was Made For Dancin'," said he was worried about singing

the song at first, fearing the wrath of Cobain's wife, Hole singer Courtney

Love.

"You know what?," Garrett said. "I don't really care what she thinks. Of

course, though ... it would be very complimentary if she liked it."

A spokesperson for Nirvana's management, the GAS Company, said neither of

the band's living ex-members — drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist

Novoselic — have any comment on the cover.

Garrett said he couldn't tell what the Melvins' intentions were, but the

choice makes perfect sense, given the group's pedigree and notoriously

arch sense of humor.

It was Nirvana, after all, who helped get the Melvins signed to a major

label, Atlantic Records, in 1993. Formed in Aberdeen, Wash., in the mid-'80s,

the same town that was home to Novoselic and Cobain, the Melvins made

their name on a primordial stew of oppressively heavy rock that many grunge

bands, including Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, have claimed as an influence.

Crover played on Nirvana's 1989 debut, Bleach, lending his booming

drum sound to the songs "Floyd the Barber" (RealAudio

excerpt) and "Paper Cuts." Cobain often talked up the Melvins in

interviews. The notoriously abrasive group didn't last long on Atlantic,

however, and eventually returned to the indie ranks.

The Crybaby, due in November, will feature a raft of other guest

stars, according to Crover, among them former Faith No More yelper Patton,

growling singer Kevin Sharp of death-rockers Brutal Truth, industrial-rockers

Tool, art-rock band Skeleton Key and spastic Jesus Lizard frontman David

Yow, who appears on "Dry Drunk." The album also includes a cover of country

legend Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man" sung by his grandson, Hank Williams

III.

Other collaborators include singer Jim Thirwell of industrial band Foetus,

singer Bliss Blood from gothic-industrial band the Pain Teens and

singer/songwriter Beck, whose association with the band goes back to his

1995 song "Beercan," which sampled the Melvins' "Eggnog." Melvins

guitarist/singer Buzz Osbourne appeared in the "Beercan" video.

The Crybaby will complete a trilogy of 1999 albums from the Melvins. The first,

The Maggot, was recently released by Ipecac. In typical Melvins

fashion, it features thick, nearly impenetrable riffs alongside such

droning songs as "See How Pretty, See How Smart" and "Amazon"

(RealAudio excerpt),

which sound like heavy-metal versions of Gregorian chants.

The Maggot "is the heavy record I think fans will like right away,"

Crover said.

He said the second album, The Bootlicker, due in August, is a

departure from that oppressive sound. "I read some people complaining

about missing the weirder stuff," he said. "So the next one will be a lot

quieter and weirder, like 1997's Honky. There's a song called 'Let

It All Be' that rocks in a very gentle way. It's our first song with a

cowbell."

Also in the offing, Crover said, is an album recorded with Godheadsilo

bassist Mike Kunka credited to Mike and the Melvins, which isn't yet

scheduled for release, and an album of covers of classic Melvins songs

due sometime in early 2000. The Melvins will hit the road this summer

with a group of experimental bands, including the Cosmic Psychos, Vas and

ambient trio Hovercraft, Crover said.

(Contributing Editor Jon Vena contributed to this report.)