Alternative rock supergroup Crystal Fairy was formed in 2016 by Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover of the Melvins, Omar Rodríguez-López of At the Drive-In and the Mars Volta, and Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes. The seeds of the band were sown when Le Butcherettes supported the Melvins on their 2016 summer tour and Gender Bender got up on-stage every night to do an encore of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" with the headliners, which became the highlight of the evening. Rodríguez-López, who had produced and played guitar for Le Butcherettes, hooked up with the others on the tour and floated the idea that they should all form a band together. The rest, as they say, is history. With Osborne on guitar, Crover on drums, Rodríguez-López on bass, and Gender Bender on vocals, the quartet -- possibly named after the 2013 Chilean comedy-adventure film starring Michael Cera -- booked studio time in El Paso and L.A. to begin writing and recording their debut album. The material on the resulting self-titled effort was closest in tone to the Melvins, with sludgy riffs and pounding drums, and a faintly psychedelic feel, but the real added value came from Gender Bender, whose free-association lyrics and swooping, sneering vocals gave the impression of a punk Kate Bush. The album was released early in 2017 on Mike Patton's Ipecac label. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi