Smartass is a word that comes up a lot in conversation with Melvins guitarist Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne. John Waters, one of his favourite filmmakers, is a smartass. Creem magazine, which introduced the teenage Osborne to pre-punk renegades such as David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and the Velvet Underground, had a smartass attitude—something especially welcome in the famously frizz-mopped musician’s hometown, Montesano, Washington.

And Osborne might be a smartass too, except that on this hot August day, trapped on a tour bus somewhere between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas, he can’t quite be bothered.

Consequently, the Straight’s interview with the grunge and stoner-rock pioneer is a desultory affair, split between earnest questions from one side and terse replies from the other. Osborne clearly believes in letting the music do the talking, so it’s a good thing the Melvins’ latest, Everybody Loves Sausages, has a lot to say.

It’s a covers album, and 30 years into a band’s career this generally means that the songwriting well is running dry. Not so, Osborne asserts, letting slip that the Melvins are on the verge of releasing Tres Cabrones, a fresh collection of tunes written to showcase original drummer Mike Dillard. But perhaps the short-lived reunion—Dillard now works as a machinist and won’t take to the road again—offered Osborne and bandmate Dale Crover a chance to return to the kind of straightforward rock they initially produced.

“The record came out really good,” Osborne says. “It’s a little simpler. My wife says she thinks it’s her favourite stuff we’ve ever done, ’cause it’s simpler. So there you go.”

Everybody Loves Sausages is a comparatively ambitious undertaking. Among its high points are a Beach Boys–inflected version of Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” and a sprawling 11-minute take on Bowie’s “Golden Years”. But it’s also an occasion for the Melvins to glance into the rear-view mirror.

“The point was to do a covers album of stuff that people might not realize we were influenced by,” Osborne says. “Mission accomplished.”

Long-time Melvins watchers won’t be surprised by the band’s Sabbathoid approach to Venom’s “Warhead”, or the inclusion of obscure numbers from second-generation punks Tales of Terror and the Pop-O-Pies. The real shock is a surprisingly faithful rendition of Roxy Music’s disturbingly obsessive ode to an inflatable sex doll, “In Every Dream Home a Heartache”, complete with a neo-psychedelic guitar explosion from Osborne.

Adding greatly to the song’s creep quotient are guest vocals from Jello Biafra. Credit Osborne with having the ears to recognize that the former Dead Kennedys singer’s signature warble owes a lot to Roxy’s stylish Bryan Ferry.

“There’s worse things to rip off,” Osborne says. “Roxy Music was like a super-weird version of David Bowie, although I’m sure the influence went both ways. And Biafra was able to make it even creepier. All the better.”

It’s a sure thing that the young Buzzo would have enjoyed this latest effort from the now-49-year-old musician, especially as Osborne contends that he’s the same misanthrope he was in his Montesano days.

“It’s almost like I haven’t changed, except now I’m just considered a stupid old man, as opposed to a curmudgeon teenager,” he says, a flash of his inner smartass emerging at last. “There’s not a whole lot of difference.”