Melvins Announce 2012 ‘Lite’ Tour, ‘Last Call’ TV Appearance

The Melvins, currently on tour in their “standard” four-piece configuration in support of the just-released ‘The Bulls and the Bees‘ EP, have announced the first round of summer tour dates for their new three-piece Melvins Lite lineup.

But first, the four-piece version is going to appear on NBC’s ‘Last Call with Carson Daly‘ on Wednesday night (April 25) — or in the wee hours of Thursday (April 26) if you want to be more accurate.

Got all that? Good, because frontman Buzz Osborne isn’t about to apologize for keeping things interesting: “The Melvins have a long history of mixing up our line-ups and I think that’s what has kept us relevant for so long,” he explains.

The three-piece lineup, which finds Osborne and long-time drummer Dale Crover joined by frequent collaborator Trevor Dunn (Tomahawk, Fantomas, Mr. Bungle) on stand-up bass, will release the full-length album ‘Freak Puke‘ on June 5.

Osborne suggests fans consider the album “the fifth side of the four-sided Melvins triangle,” which is such a great quote that we’re creating an entire sentence around it strictly to give it a home on our site.

The Melvins Lite tour kicks off July 1 in Rochester, N.Y. — wonder if they’ll pick up a garbage plate while they’re there — and winds up July 20 in San Francisco. You’ll notice most of the shows are in Canada so far; presumably these dates will be supplemented with more U.S. dates shortly.

Melvins Lite 2012 Tour Dates:

07/01 — Rochester, N.Y.

07/03 — Montreal, QC

07/04 — Ottawa, ON

07/05 — Toronto, ON

07/06 — London, ON

07/07 — Hamilton, ON

07/09 — Winnepeg, MB

07/10 — Regina, SK

07/11 — Saskatoon, SK

07/12 — Calgary, AB

07/13 — Edmonton, AB

07/15 — Vancouver, B.C.

07/17 — Bellingham, Wash.

07/18 — Portland, Ore.

07/20 — San Francisco, Calif.