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Category: Stoner rock
Rewind Review: Blue Cheer – Vincebus Eruptum (1968)
I’d heard and read that Blue Cheer (Dick Peterson – bass and vocals, Leigh Stephens – guitar, Paul Whaley – drums) were among the loudest bands of all time. Eric Clapton mentioned this in an interview I read once when he was talking about the psychedelic / stoner rock scene in late 1960’s. Other musicians seemed to whisper about Blue Cheer like speaking too loudly of them might unleash a sonic boom at any moment. So, I figured I should buy their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (which is Latin for “blue cheer,” by the way).
The album opens with what is widely considered to be the first heavy metal song ever released – their cover of “Summertime Blues.” It immediately pours on the distortion and drumming that sounds an army of Orcs is playing it. My favorite part of the cover is how they don’t bother singing the parts when the boss or the congressman in the song speak. They just play a quick bass, drum, or guitar solo instead. “Rock Me Baby” is a blues standard, showing that Blue Cheer could groove as well as blow out your eardrums.
“Doctor Please” is the first track on the album written by Peterson, and it’s almost eight minutes of howling vocals backed by wailing guitar, heavy drums, and angry dog-growl bass. “Out of Focus” almost starts that way with its funky, weird bass groove, but soon Whaley’s drum licks bring everything into a (somewhat fuzzy) focus.
“Parchment Farm” has guitar work that you can hear influenced bands like Earthless, Sleep, Kadavar, and Wolfmother. Stephens melted the first faces in 1968, and some people still haven’t recovered. Listening to “Second Time Around” is like hearing the first cries of Baby Stoner Rock. It’s a wild, bluesy, psychedelic trip with a crazy drum solo from Whaley. The band is allegedly named for a type of LSD, after all.
As wild as it is to hear Vincebus Eruptum now, it must’ve been mind-blowing in 1968. No one had done anything like this before, and many are still trying to do it now. From now on when people ask me, “What should I listen to if I want to get into stoner rock?” I’ll tell them to start with this.
Keep your mind open.
[You won’t have the blues if you subscribe.]
Desert Daze 2017 announces a great lineup.
The 2017 Desert Daze music festival in Joshua Tree, California is boasting one of the best festival lineups of 2017. This four-day festival of psychedelic and stoner rock is well worth the trip if you don’t live close to the west coast.
Just some of the stand-outs in my book are Eagles of Death Metal, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the Thurston Moore Group, Liars, Boris, Allah-Las, La Femme, the Budos Band, Deap Vally, Holy Wave, Froth, L.A. Witch, Death Valley Girls, Jjuujjuu, and Dahga Bloom.
Get your tickets now. I’d be there if I could, but I’ll probably have used up most of my vacation time by the time October 12th arrives.
Keep your mind open.
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Oh Sees deliver new single, “Animated Violence,” from upcoming album.
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Thee Oh Sees announce new summer U.S. tour dates.
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Rewind Review: Fuzz – self-titled (2013)
Not one to rest on his laurels, Ty Segall has more side projects than a street hustler. Fuzz is one of his loudest and best. Along with Roland Cosio (bass) and Charlie Moothart (guitar), Segall (on vocals and drums instead of his usual guitar) and his pals created an album of metal distortion that was hard to match in 2013 and is still hard to match today.
The band is appropriately named, as the opener, “Earthen Gate,” starts like a bluesy heavy metal ballad but transforms into a heavy chugging fuzzed-out battle hymn. “Sleigh Ride” has, as far as I can tell, nothing to do with Christmas and jingle bells, but everything to do with the band’s love of Cream and Black Sabbath. This love of 1960’s metal bands continues on “What’s in My Head?”, in which Fuzz drifts back and forth between psychedelia and stoner metal.
“HazeMaze” hits hard right out of the gate. It’s like the soundtrack to a battle between giant robots. Seriously, someone needs to put this in the next Pacific Rim movie. “Loose Sutures” is excellent stoner metal. It’s full of reverbed vocals, heavy guitars, and pounding drums that sound like Segall decided to skip a day at the gym and made up for it on his kit.
“Preacher” is Cream mixed with Blue Cheer. “Raise” is Cream if Clapton, Bruce, and Baker said, “Screw it, turn up full volume on everything.” when recording (which, actually, I’m sure they did now and then). The rhythm grooves in it are superb. The album ends with “One,” the longest track on the album at just over six minutes (Fuzz doesn’t mess around.). It’s glorious, hard-hitting controlled instrumental chaos. The mosh pit this must induce is probably batshit crazy.
This record would’ve been in my top 10 of 2013 had I been keeping lists back then. They’ve put out a second record by now, II, so I need to seek it out pronto. You should, too. Seek out both. Get fuzzy.
Keep your mind open.
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Live – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Stonefield – Chicago, IL – April 08, 2017
I knew it was going to be a wild crowd for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard when I saw a woman in line pick up a roach she’d dropped after her friend had taken a toke and then passed to her. Yes, she finished a joint that had been dropped on a filthy Chicago sidewalk (on North Clark, to be precise) and then joined the line of people who had been “pre-gaming” at the pub next door.
I met a friend of mine, Amy, I hadn’t seen in years for the show. She hadn’t heard of KGATLW, ORB, or Stonefield. She told me she didn’t listen to anything by any of them before the show. She wanted to be surprised. She wore a walking boot as a result of a foot surgery, and that allowed us to sit in a specially designated “handicap seating” area in the Metro balcony. I’m not sure how anyone with an affliction worse than a post-surgery walking boot could make it up to the balcony, but we had great seats regardless.
Stonefield were already playing when we arrived (The Metro is one of the few venues I’ve visited that is serious about the starting times of their shows.), and they had already swooned most of the crowd. Amy was a fan within two songs, and their blend of 60’s psych and doom metal was a heady brew and a fine start to the evening.
ORB were onstage not long after Stonefield had finished their set. I was keen on seeing them as their Birth album is one of my favorites from 2016. Their hard-hitting stoner metal sounded great. They played a fast set that left all of us wanting more (in a good way). I hope they release another album or EP soon.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard came out to an enthusiastic crowd who were crowd surfing within three songs. Amy cried out, “Look at that crowd!” The main floor was a rolling sea of bodies and limbs for KGATLW’s entire set. They played a lot of tracks from their new album, Flying Microtonal Banana (review coming soon). “Sleep Drifter,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Billabong Valley” all were hot cuts. Another big hit with the crowd was “Altered Beast.”
The crowd, which was crazy enough already, went bonkers during “Robot Stop” from their amazing album Nonagon Infinity. “People Vultures” and “Gamma Knife” were also big hits. “Vomit Comet” was fun, as was They didn’t play an encore. Instead, they played a stunning medley of “Cellophane,” “Head On / Pill,” “I’m in Your Mind,” “Altered Me,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Robot Stop.” It was like they had looped the show back on itself like a snake eating its tail. I’ve never seen a band do anything like that live.
It was a killer show. My voice was hoarse by the end of it. By the way, KGATLW has already announced the release date of their second album (of five planned) for 2017. Murder of the Universe will be out June 23rd (and you can pre-order it as of today). Look for them to tour near your town soon!
Keep your mind open.
Clutch announces inaugural Earth Rocker Festival.
CLUTCH ANNOUNCE FIRST ANNUAL EARTH ROCKER FESTIVAL AT SHILEY ACRES IN INWOOD, WV
March 20th, 2017 – Clutch is pleased to announce their first annual Earth Rocker Festival at Shiley Acres in Inwood, WV on Saturday, May 20th. The lineup includes: Lucero, The Sword, Bad Seed Rising, Apollo’s Prophecy, and the Frederick Maryland School of Rock band. Tickets for the festival are on sale now at this location: https://tinyurl.com/n3saltt.
The festival is a daytime event that has the parking field opening at 9am. Gates to the show open at 12 noon and music starts at 1pm. The festival ends at sunset with overnight camping permitted. Children under 12 are admitted free of charge. 10×10 pop up tents and lawn chairs are allowed inside designated festival concert areas.
For more information on the line up, directions, camping, on site food and beverages available, hotel accommodations and all “Things You Should Know”, visit http://www.shileyacres.
“The first annual Earth Rocker Festival takes place at Shiley Acres, in West Virginia” states the band’s front man Neil Fallon. “We played at Shiley Acres last year and it was a blast. Our intent is to have a really diverse bill. If all goes as planned, Earth Rocker Festival will continue as an annual event, hopefully growing in scope over the years.”
Guitarist Tim Sult adds “Enjoy the May weather in the best way possible- with a day of rock n roll in a West Virginia field!”
Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster adds “Earth Rocker Festival is a great way to kick off summer! The green rolling hills of West Virginia will provide the backdrop for our inaugural music event. We wanted to create a musical experience that included a diverse line up of music. We are pleased to announce this year’s line up includes our friends the Sword and the legendary Lucero. Come rock with us!”
Shiley Acres is an outdoor concert venue located in Inwood, West Virginia. For 40 years Shiley Acres has seen many local and national acts grace it’s stage.
For more information, check out Earth Rocker Festival:
@earthrockerfest
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Rewind Review: Cream – Disraeli Gears (1967)
Continuing with my journey through the Cream (Ginger Baker – drums and vocals, Jack Bruce – bass, harmonica, and vocals, Eric Clapton – guitar and vocals) catalogue, I’ve arrived at their second album, Disraeli Gears.
The album starts off with two of their biggest hits – “Strange Brew” and “Sunshine of Your Love.” Both are stoner rock classics. “Strange Brew” has Clapton unleashing blues licks right away and is pretty much about a witch giving him a love potion. It might also be about getting drunk on something you can’t identify. “Sunshine of Your Love” has epic shredding by Clapton and heavy rhythms by Baker and Bruce that influenced hundreds of bands after them.
“World of Pain” layers on the reverb as Clapton and Bruce sing about a gray tree and Baker puts down beats that range from simple time keeping to wild jazz. “Dance the Night Away” is shimmering psych-rock with Clapton’s guitar sounding like it’s a transmission from another dimension. “Blue Condition” is a slow, trippy bit of psych-rock, and “Tales of Brave Ulysses” is one of those great Cream tracks that you tend to forget they wrote. You instantly remember how great it is when you hear it. The band lays down tracks as heavy as the mythological hero’s exploits.
“Swlabr” is even heavier stoner-psych. Clapton chugs out chords that also shred, Bruce sings for the back row, and Baker beats his kit half to death. “We’re Going Wrong” has more trippy blues-psych guitar from Clapton (who, as you can guess by now, is stretching out and trying whatever he wants on the record). Clapton takes over lead vocals on “Outside Woman Blues,” which could be a classic blues track but Cream makes it a heavy stoner rock tune instead, and Clapton has a scorching solo on it while Bruce lays a bass line heavier than a steam engine. “Take It Back” is another track with heavy blues influences, and I won’t say anything about “Mother’s Lament.” I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t heard it.
Disraeli Gears showed Cream was firing on all cylinders. Their next album included a second record of live tracks, one of which is now legendary (but aren’t they all, really?).
Keep your mind open.
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All Them Witches – Sleeping Through the War
Eight tracks are all that’s needed by All Them Witches (Ben McLeod – guitar, bass, mellotron, percussion, Charles Michael Parks Jr. – vocals, bass, guitar, mellotron, percussion, loops, Robby Staebler – drums, congas, Allan Van Cleave – keyboards, organ, piano, mellotron) to make a powerful statement about living in 2017 on Sleeping Through the War.
Starting with “Bulls,” the album goes head-first into psychedelic territory with reverbed guitars and vocals while Parks sings about sleeping through not only the wars outside our borders, but also the ones on TV, the ones in our heads and homes, and the ones right next door. “I’m married to my boredom,” he sings. How many of us can relate to that, either in our own lives or the lives of our loved ones?
“Don’t Bring Me Coffee” is a hammering rocker that I think is about the proliferation of hipster consumers. I don’t know which of the Witches played bass on this track, but whoever did was trying to flatten the studio walls. “Bruce Lee” is as fast and bold as its namesake, and I love the space-rock guitar in it as Parker sings about trying to center himself after a bad relationship has ended, and not by his choice. The band almost ventures into stoner rock on the prime numbered “3-5-7,” and that’s all right with me. Staebler’s grooves are sweet, and Van Cleave’s keys are, as usual, excellent.
“Am I Going Up?” is a fine example (in the guitar riffs) of the Nashville blues influences All Them Witches adore. The song is about the uncertainty of death, and Parks wondering if he’s going to heaven and how long he’ll have to wait in the ground before he moves in either direction (or at all). “Alabaster” is about Parks’ childhood, how much things and the people have changed around him, and how much he is changing into them (“Every day they look more and more like me.”). The whole band grooves hard on this track and I’m sure it’s excellent live.
“Cowboy Kirk” might be the name of a childhood hero of Parks (“Love you like I love Cowboy Kirk,” he sings at the beginning.), but the person seems to be an allegory for Parks’ wishes to return to a simpler time. The song isn’t simple, that’s for sure. The guitars are layered on top of each other and I love how Staebler’s drums stay crisp throughout the tune.
The closer is “Internet,” a song about how people use what should be a magnificent invention for learning, art, and outreach to instead hide from reality and do Big Brother’s work for them. “All the moss of my childhood turned to eggshell while I wasn’t looking. If you’re asking me, I’ve got one thing to say: If I can’t live here, guess I’ll go live on the Internet,” Parks sings, verbally throwing ice water in our faces.
Most of us are sleeping through one war or another. It could be a literal one that we hope will just end if we don’t pay attention (i.e., Syria) or one we stopped caring about a long time ago and are just going through the motions of it by this point. It could be a war with a dream we refuse to chase or a trauma we refuse to confess. We have to wake up. We have to open our eyes and, yes, get off the Internet.
We need this record.
Keep your mind open.
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