Stoner rock – Page 15 – 7th Level Music

Comacozer – Astra Planeta

One of the best parts of writing this blog is when a band asks me to give them a listen and they turn out to be as good as Australia’s Comacozer.

These three psych / doom / stoner rockers have crafted a fine piece of work with their album Astra Planeta. It’s five tracks (the shortest at 6:21) of instrumental spaced out riffs that range from solar wind trippy to asteroid impact heavy.

“Saurian Dream” starts off like a slippery salamander wriggling out of mud atop a fresh grave but then morphs into wavy heat mirages seen by a goanna sunning itself on a hot outback rock.

The guitar on “The Mind that Feeds the Eye” sounds almost like something from a spaghetti western score, even with the heavy delay pedals. The bass is as crisp as a bullfrog’s croak, and the drum beats snap by you like telephone poles as you cruise down a lonely road. The title reminds us that most of what we see is illusion, but what you see will be altered if your mind is altered. All great holy men and women have known and professed this. Comacozer add another page to the sermon.

I’m a sucker for ancient Egypt, so I’m not surprised that I love “Navigating the Mandjet.” The mandjet was one of the Egyptian sun god Ra’s solar boats (“The Boat of Millions of Years”), and the song would be perfect for the sound system on it. I dig the rock beat that runs through it, and the guitar and bass have a perfect Middle Eastern groove for the track.

The bass on “Illumination Cloud” sounds like something Les Claypool dreamed once. The song builds to a great cosmic rock track with some of the best guitar shredding on the record.

I don’t know if the Apophis named in “Hypnotized by Apophis” is the Egyptian snake demon of chaos with a magical gaze or the charted 325 meter-wide asteroid that might hit the Earth in 2068. The song’s perfect for either case, as it swirls with cosmic riffs ideal for flying through an asteroid belt and bass and drums ideal for battling a giant snake with a lance.

Astra Planeta is a solid record of excellent cosmic psych rock. These guys need to play at a Levitation festival, and you need to buy this album.

Keep your mind open.

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Led Zeppelin to release remastered BBC Sessions double album.

Guitar / rock legend Jimmy Page has remastered the excellent double album The Complete BBC Sessions. The album drops tomorrow (September 16th) and has eight new tracks previously unreleased. The original BBC sessions album was released in 1997 as a two-disc set, but this newest edition will be three discs and contain rare versions of “You Shook Me,” “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” “Sunshine Woman,” “Communication Breakdown,” and “Dazed and Confused.” There’s also a 48-page book in the deluxe edition.

In even better news, Page has announced that he has a new album in the works. Look for it next year.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Gravel Drag – Sly Fox (2014)

I love a good instrumental, and Gravel Drag‘s (Chris Bowyer – bass, Ben McKinney – drums, Steve McKinney – guitar) Sly Fox EP has four of them. All are tight stoner rock tracks that each clock in under four minutes. Gravel Drag doesn’t have time for spacing out for long stretches. They’re too busy making hard-hitting swamp metal.

“War Beast” sounds like Helmet and Sleep met in a dark alley and got into a fight. Ben McKinney’s drums remind me of classic Helmet fills and Steve McKinney and Chris Bowyer supply the heavy Sleep-like riffs.

“The Legend of Sly Fox” is peppier than “War Beast,” but it’s no less heavy. I love how crisp Ben McKinney’s snare is in this. “KnockoutKing” is a knockout. Loud, squelching guitar, one-two punch combo bass, and mosh pit drums all equal a great tune.

The closer is “Radio Curse,” and I wonder if the title refers to the lack of radio play for instrumental riff rock like this. Bowyer channels his inner Peter Hook with his bass at first and then drops stuff heavier than Hook ever did in Joy Division.

It’s a shame this is only a four-song EP because it’s heavy enough to be a full album. An LP from these guys would probably have the mass of a dwarf star.

Keep your mind open.

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ORB – Birth

Not to be confused with techno / house giants The Orb, Australia’s ORB specialize in heavy stoner and psych-rock riffs. Their newest record, Birth, even starts with a song called “Iron Mountain,” so you know they mean business. You can’t start an album with a song titled “Iron Mountain” and not have ground-shaking rock to go with it.

“Iron Mountain” does indeed put down two-ton riffs that bring to mind Black Sabbath, MC5, and even early Pink Floyd. The groove of “Reflection” is excellent. The cowbell isn’t overdone, the skronky guitar is perfect, and the psych-bass is solid. The breakdown around the four-minute mark is jaw-dropping.

“Birth of a New Moon” is as heavy as the plunge into darkness the title implies. The song practically oozes incense smoke from your speakers and projects images of beautiful women in hooded robes dancing across hot coals onto the back of your eyelids. There’s some cool synth work in this that makes it even trippier. It’s also an instrumental, which I always appreciate.

“First and Last Men,” the shortest song on the record at just under five minutes, is a sharp fuzz-rocker with some of the heaviest bass on the album. I also like the near-funk drum groove and how the guitar almost switches to prog-rock riffs at times.

The album ends with “Electric Blanket,” which is over sixteen minutes of mind-warping psychedelia that winds from gut-rumbling guitars to early Gary Numan synths and back to more early Pink Floyd madness.

It’s one of the best psych / stoner rock records I’ve heard this year, and further proof that there must be something in the water in Australia that causes that continent to churn out so many good bands.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Royal Blood – self-titled (2014)

File this one under: Bands I Like Who Slipped Through the Cracks. I’d heard a few tracks from Royal Blood’s self-titled debut album two years ago on the Out of the Black EP, but kept forgetting to buy the full record. I finally found it at a Target two months ago.

It’s one of the best rock records to come along in recent memory. Royal Blood is Mike Kerr on bass and vocals and Ben Thatcher on drums. That’s right, no guitar. They bring new meaning to the term “drum and bass,” because that’s all there is (apart from vocals). It’s all bass – wonderful, cranked-up, fuzzed-out, wall-flattening bass – and drums – excellent armies of Mordor-marching, Jason Bonham-honoring, avalanche-producing drums.

“Out of the Black” was their first big hit, and rightly so, as they belt out a rocker about an angry break-up. It’s a common theme on the record. The lads are angry, lonely, and frisky, but there isn’t a damn thing they can do about it except pour it all out on this record. The follow-up to the “I’m so pissed I could kill you” anthem of “Out of the Black” is “Come On Over,” in which Kerr has dropped belief in God (“I went to church and stopped believing.”) and thus the religious dogma that held him back from engaging in naughty sinful behavior. We go from bad break-up to sinful sex in the span of two songs.

“Figure It Out” has a wicked drum groove that barely touches on pop-punk as Kerr struggles to determine why his girl won’t talk about what went wrong in their relationship (“I said I’d go, ‘cause I won’t see you later and we’re not allowed to figure it out.”). It makes sense that the next song is “You Can Be So Cruel,” which has Kerr standing outside his lady’s door thinking of her (in his stalker-like eyes) loneliness and his depression.

His lady’s continued distance from him leads to more anger on “Blood Hands.” “I’ll curse the ground where you kneel till I grow my hair to my heels. Spike your water, your wine while you waste my precious time.” Kerr’s bass work on it sounds like he’s playing two guitars at once.

Kerr tries to move on to another romantic conquest on “Little Monster,” but still borders on creepy as he sings, “I’m gonna love you no matter what you say.” and “I say run little monster before you know who I am.” The song was another big hit for them, and it couldn’t miss. Thatcher’s drums are like something from a Mad Max movie and Kerr’s bass work on it is pure stoner metal.

The subject of “Little Monster” must have taken Kerr’s advice of running away, because Kerr sings about “Shouting through your letter hole like there’s nobody home.” and referring to her as an “ice queen licking on a guillotine” in “Loose Change,” which has Thatcher putting down a groove so nasty it should be twiddling its moustache.

Kerr admits he’s screwed up everything on “Careless.” “I wish I could care less, but I’m afraid I don’t. You couldn’t care less, so I guess you won’t change your mind again.” In “Ten Tonne Skeleton,” he knows his ex-girlfriend has moved on, and now he regrets the way he screwed up his chance.

The final cut is “Better Strangers,” and Kerr realizes he has to get far away from this woman before he gets flattened again (“I’m a thousand miles from danger if I make a better stranger of you.”). He repeats the word “hollow” to echo the empty feeling in his gut, but he fills it with scorching bass work.

This easily would’ve been in my top 5 records of 2014 if I’d kept track of such things then. Royal Blood were in the process of writing a new album when they toured with Foo Fighters in 2015. I hope they release it soon.

Keep your mind open.

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Wolfmother – Victorious

Australia’s Wolfmother return in 2016 Victorious. It’s a proper name for the album, because the band (Andrew Stockdale – guitar, bass, and vocals, Josh Freese and Joey Waronker – drums) can claim victory in the world of rock with it.

The opening riff of “The Love that You Give” instantly lets you know Wolfmother means business with this record. It’s fast and like something you’d crank as you race across the desert flats of Oz. The title track has Sabbath-like chugging as Stockdale’s vocals rise to give praise to a powerful woman snatching victory from outside forces trying to destroy her. The breakdown on this cut is outstanding and like something you’d hear blasting out of your brother’s customized van in 1978.

The heavy organ on “Baroness” is the magic touch on it, and the boot-stomping drums are an added bonus. “Pretty Peggy” is, believe it or not, a lovely ballad that has Stockdale singing to the back wall of the club. It has a bit of a psych-rock feel that I like.

“City Lights” gets back to the rock with Stockdale’s guitar practically singing backing vocals. It’s a great summer driving song. The drums and cymbals on “The Simple Life” are anything but simple, nor is Stockdale’s shredding. His riffs on it are some of my favorite of the record. “Best of a Bad Situation” has a nice pop ring to it, especially with the acoustic guitar and handclaps, and Stockdale’s vocals are light-hearted on it.

“Gypsy Caravan” is a classic cosmic rock track from the band. Stockdale’s reverbed vocals mix well with the groovy organ, fuzzed guitars, and Keith Moon-like drumming. The caravan seems to be travelling more around Saturn than through a dusty outback town. “Happy Face” has synths that remind me of ELO songs. Imagine ELO as a psych / stoner rock band and you’ll get the idea. The album ends with “Eye of the Beholder,” which is heavy enough to be about the multi-optic monster from Dungeons & Dragons. Stockdale brings some of his best “epic rock” vocals to the closer, the drums go for broke, and Stockdale’s guitar is more like a bullet train racing by you.

Victorious is a nice return for Wolfmother. They are currently on tour, and I recommend you see them. They pull no punches on stage and leave you humming their songs for days afterwards.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Wolfmother and the Living Statues – July 10, 2016 – Chicago, IL

I’d wanted to see Wolfmother live for many years, but their U.S. dates were few and far between for me. A friend of mine had seen them on their first tour and described their live show as “orgasmic.”

Lo and behold, I was in Chicago on the same weekend they were playing at the Double Door. I managed to score a ticket and get there in time to meet my friend and catch the last half of the opening set from The Living Statues – a local pop-punk band with hints of Buzzcocks, Beatles, and the Killers. They had a lot of hometown fans there and put on a good show.

The place was packed by the time Wolfmother took the stage. We got a nice spot along the bar and near the stage right corner. Wolfmother came out gunning by playing “Dimension” right away. The crowd was singing and jamming within seconds. They followed up with “New Moon Rising” and then the first single off their new record, Victorious, “Gypsy Caravan.”

Wolfmother start strong with “Dimension.”

The crowd was bonkers by the time they reached “Apple Tree,” “California Queen,” “Victorious,” and “White Unicorn.”

They ended with the lead track off Victorious – “The Love that You Give” and then “Mind’s Eye,” both songs calling for compassion and looking past the illusions we create. The encore was “The Joker and the Thief,” which sent everyone over the edge into stoner / psych-rock madness.

Wolfmother flattening walls during “The Joker and the Thief.”

It was well worth the wait. My friend sent me a text message two days later that read, “I’m still high on Wolfmother.” I too had been humming the songs for two days. I’m sure the rest of the crowd was still buzzing, because Wolfmother shook the rafters.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and Valkyrie – June 10, 2016 – Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Sadly, I could find none of these lying around to snag while I was there.

I will see Clutch at any opportunity, so I wouldn’t pass up the chance to see them a little over an hour’s drive from my house and in my old punk rock stomping grounds of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We got to the Pierre’s entertainment complex in time to hear the last two songs of Valkyrie’s set. They reminded me a bit of Sleep – heavy stoner riffs and Black Sabbath-like vocals.

Legendary metal rockers Corrosion of Conformity were up next. My wife asked, “This is going to be a blast of metal, isn’t it? With a name like Corrosion of Conformity, I imagine it’s going to be pretty loud.”

She was right, of course. They dropped more metal in the place than a crane at a scrapyard. “Who’s Got the Fire?”, “Broken Man,” “Albatross,” “Seven Days,” “My Grain,” and “The Door” were all big hits with the crowd. It was no surprise that the band played “Vote with a Bullet” in an election year show, and even less of a surprise that the crowd went nuts for it.

A tall man in a trucker cap and sleeves shirt stood next to me with his right arm raised to throw devil horns for almost the entire COC set. He was the type of guy who’d worked all week at a truck parts factory in the summer heat knowing it would all be worth it because he was going to see Corrosion of Conformity that weekend. It was a metal set for a metal crowd, and that guy next to me was Midwest metal all the way. I’m sure he was pleased as punch when COC announced they’d have a new album in 2017.

Clutch, as is customary whenever I’ve seen them, opened with two fast rockers. “X-Ray Visions” and “Firebids,” both off Psychic Warfare. They had the crowd in their hands within the first verse of “X-Ray Visions.” I heard my first Jean-Paul Gaster drum solo that led into a powerful rendition of “Immortal.” “A Shogun Named Marcus” was an unexpected surprise from their first record before they jumped forward more than two decades to blast out “Sucker for the Witch” and then slow down for “Son of Virginia” off the new record.

“Pulaski Skyway” was another bit hit with the crowd thanks to its “Andy Warhol / CBGB’s” chant and jab at Donald Trump (“Chump Towers”). “Behold the Colossus” is a fine example of Clutch’s epic Dungeons and Dragons rock, and it was a fine combination that night with “Cypress Grove” and its lyrics about a cult of mysterious women. Where else but a Clutch show will you see hundreds of metalhead dudes pumping their fists and singing / chanting about women in wide brim hats? Plus, Tim Sult’s guitar solo on “Cypress Grove” was outstanding.

“Your Love Is Like Incarceration” led into another surprise (for me, at least) – “Strange Cousins from the West.” I hadn’t heard that live since I first saw Clutch in 2009 at a street fair in Chicago when they were promoting that record.

A great part of the set was when Neil Fallon acknowledged Corrosion of Conformity’s influence on the band and brought out COC front man Pepper Keenan to jam with them on “Spacegrass.” The crowd went nuts to the point of chanting “C-O-C” like they did at the end of COC’s set.

Clutch with Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity

“Noble Savage” was a strong way to end their main set, with the crowd chanting “Unapologetic lifer for rock and roll.” Their encore included “The House that Peterbuilt,” “Electric Worry” (a favorite of my wife), and “One Eye Dollar.”

“We started this tour in Florida,” Neil Fallon said at one point during the show. “Then we went to Mississippi, then to Arizona, and this is by far the hottest show of the tour. No contest.”

The crowd cheered for this, and the band showed no signs of fatigue. Neil Fallon even made sure to ask us if we had a second wind at one point and that getting tired was “unacceptable.” It had been in the low 90’s with tropical rainforest-like humidity in Fort Wayne all day, and the inside of Pierre’s (with its minimal air conditioning) was like a sweat lodge – perfect for a show meant to melt your face, perfect for Midwest metal lovers like the guy with the Clutch logo tattoo across his throat I saw at a convenience store after the show, and a perfect end to the work week.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Doug Weber for getting me a press pass to this show and for being an all-around cool cat.]

Levitation Chicago artist spotlight: Earthless

Earthless (Mike Eginton – bass, Isaiah Mitchell – guitar, Mario Rubalcaba – drums) are a powerhouse stoner / cosmic rock band. In my opinion, they call themselves Earthless because their rock is too big to be contained to this planet. If Jack Kirby’s New Gods comics came with a soundtrack, Earthless would score it.

I saw them at Levitation Austin in 2014 and was blown away by their set. They create epic tracks usually of double-digit length. My wife thought the first two songs of their Levitation Austin set were actually three. I look forward to having them melt my face again at Levitation Chicago on March 12th.

Keep your mind open.

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All Them Witches – Dying Surfer Meets His Maker

A friend of mine introduced me to All Them Witches (Ben McLeod – guitar, Michael Parks, Jr. – bass, vocals, guitar, Robby Staebler – drums, Allan Van Cleave – keyboards, violin) when she sent me their 2014 album Lightning at the Door and said, “I think you’ll like these guys.” I’m not sure if she thought I’d like them because their name involved witches and she figured that would go along with my love of old horror movies or if their psychedelic desert rock would intrigue me. She was right on both accounts.

Their new album, the intriguingly titled Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, rises and ebbs like waves and can easily lull you into some sort of trance. The opener, “Call Me Star,” builds to an almost menacing drone and slips right into “El Centro,” which is over eight minutes of psychedelic greatness. McLeod pulls in riffs that could’ve been used in Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune movie if it had ever been made. Van Cleave’s synths add a touch of weird playfulness that is somewhat disturbing (in a good way), Parks’ bass sounds like a ghost, and Staebler beats his kit like it will power a rocket launch.

“Dirt Preachers” is the first single off the record. It starts with a weird bass dirge and then moves out at a pace best suited for late night high speed driving. It has a great Led Zeppelin-like breakdown in the middle that is outstanding. “This Is Where It Falls Apart” might be about a relationship. The blues harmonica, sad drums, and distant vocals seem to relate that something is coming to an end, but it may be the end of this reality for all I know. The track is like a half-awake dream.

“Mellowing” lives up to its title, and McLeod’s work on it is excellent. Van Cleave is all over “Open Passageways” with spooky synths and even better violin work that makes the track sound like something you’d hear on a Scottish moor just before a banshee steps out of a tree next to you. “Instrumental 2 (Welcome to the Caveman Future)” would be great for a live-action Thundarr the Barbarian movie considering the title and how it drifts from thudding rock to mystical tones. “Talisman” sounds like a mix of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Jesus and Mary Chain.

The closer is “Blood and Sand / Milk and Endless Waters.” I have a feeling the first half is war-themed, with the second half being the images seen by a wounded or dying soldier on a stormed beach. It’s definitely trippy enough for that.

This is a great way to start off your psychedelic music collection for 2016. All Them Witches are about to take off on a tour of Europe for the spring. Catch them if you can. They’ve moved up high on my list.

Keep your mind open.