This is a haunting live album from the lead singer of The Black Angels, and a performance of Maas’ first solo album – Luca. His backing band is top-notch and it’s like listening to a dream.
Chock-full of post-punk bangers and piercing lyrics about life during and after the pandemic that hit harder now than all of last year, Parquet Courts’ Sympathy for Life is one of those records that reveals more of itself with each listen.
I’m so glad I heard these guys on BBC 6 Music and tracked down Uppers, because I knew it was going to be one of my favorite records of 2021 within thirty seconds on the opening track. Fun lyrics, ripping riffs, and killer beats make it a go-to record for high energy.
A live recording that sounds good enough to be a studio album, Stöner’s Live in the Mojave Desert session is like having a desert rock concert in your house. Play at maximum volume.
One of the smoothest and grooviest records of 2021 came from these guys who embraced their love of disco and mixed it with their reverence for soul. There isn’t a weak track on the whole album.
These are my top five shows of 2021. I hope to see more than 30 bands in 2022, but the future is now – so let’s get to it.
#5: Ty Segall – Psycho Music Festival – August 20th
Playing on a stage atop a wave pool, Ty Segall and his band put on one of the loudest, fiercest sets of the 2021 Psycho Music Festival. The power coming across the water was stunning.
Clutch are always a top tier live band, and this show kept their reputation intact. They played a few new cuts and a lot of stuff from early in their catalogue they hadn’t played in a long while.
I’m not sure I saw a more delighted crowd at any show in 2021. Everyone stopped caring about the heat and humidity, the overpriced food, and the terrible screamo bands on the lineup and started cheering, dancing, and singing.
This set stunned everyone at the Mandalay House of Blues. It was my first time seeing FATW live, and the first time many in the crowd had heard them. It was their first gig in two years, and they came out gunning. I heard someone in another crowd later raving about them and telling everyone he could to listen to them. I can’t put it better than that.
Holy crap. Osees closed the 2021 Psycho Music Festival’s outdoor stage on the last night of the four-night festival. They went bonkers. Yes, I know every Osees show is bonkers, but you could tell they had a lot of pent-up energy from not being able to play in front of a crowd for two years. People were charging through the wading pool in front of the stage, throwing beer buckets full of water on each other, or stumbling backwards on the beach as the wall of sound hit us like a bulldozer.
Everyone stay healthy in 2022 so we can see more shows.
Live shows made a comeback in 2021, thank heavens, but many were still canceled or postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. As a result, I only saw 35 live bands this year. Cutting that list in half (or thereabouts) to save time, here’s the start of my top fifteen concerts of 2021.
#15: Acid Dad – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Brass Rail – October 08th
I’d only heard a couple tracks by Acid Dad before seeing them live, and they didn’t fail to impress everyone at the Brass Rail. It was a rocking show of groovy psych-rock with hints of surf and garage rock.
This was the first time I’d seen Protomartyr live as well, and it was a fine show indeed with a ton of great post-punk rock in front of an excited crowd of fellow Michiganders.
#13: Stöner – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Piere’s – September 29th
This was two firsts in one, both seeing and hearing Stöner for the first time. They played a cool heavy set of desert rock and won over a lot of fans (including yours truly) at this show. Their shirts and LPs were flying off their merch table after their set.
#12: King Buffalo – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Piere’s – September 29th
Yes, the same show. King Buffalo were the first of three bands that night (the third being Clutch). I’d heard of King Buffalo before, but only a couple songs. They played an excellent set of psychedelic rock that set the table for the rest of the night.
#11: All Them Witches – Chicago’s Metro – December 16th
This was the last show I saw in 2021, and ATW put on a solid set of heavy psychedelia. It was the last show of their tour before a break until they played a series of shows around New Year’s Eve.
Who’s in the top ten? Come back tomorrow to learn!
No, this isn’t the fourth Live in the Mojave Desertalbum power rock trio Stöner has released, but it is the fourth in a collection of live performances captured by the Heavy Psych Records label…and, boy, is this thing heavy.
Essentially a live performance of Stöner’s debut album, Stoners Rule (with a different track order), Live in the Mojave Desert absolutely slams from beginning to end. The album opens with cauldron-boiling guitar from lead vocalist Brant Bjork on “Rad Stays Rad” as he sings about the hard job of staying groovy in un-groovy times. Nick Oliveri‘s thundering bass soon joins him, and Ryan Gut slaps his snare like it ate his lunch and left the empty containers in the office refrigerator for him to find later “Nothin'” is a classic muscle car rocker about standing up for what’s yours.
“Own Yer Blues” is blues-influenced, sludgy rocker that seems to crawl out of the swamp. Oliveri’s bass is menacing throughout it as Bjork sings about how fast a day can fall apart and how “by afternoon, you own yer blues.” “The Older Kids” speeds things up, with all three men rolling along like a boulder racing down a canyon wall.
“Stand Down” is another sweet (leaf) groover about people who run the risks of being put in their place if they puff up on someone. “Evel Never Dies” has Oliveri taking on the lead vocals for his fiery tribute to stunt driver / madman Evel Knievel. His voice has more a metal and punk edge than Bjork’s somewhat gravelly lower tones, and both work well for their respective tracks.
The closing track is the superb long-form psych-groovy “Tribe / Fly Girl.” Oliveri’s bass lick leads the way and Gut’s steady-Eddie almost become an enchantment as the track winds like a snake across a sand dune. Bjork’s guitar chugs along like a determined steam engine until they reach the halfway point and it becomes a massive steam shovel…and then a rocket blasting away from gravity to join his bandmates who have already floated there.
Some credit has to be given to the album’s sound engineers as well. It’s so clear that the whole thing could easily be mistaken for a studio recording. It’s also an essential addition to your stoner / desert rock collection, not to mention for fans of Kyuss (which counted both Bjork and Oliveri as members).
Orion, the first album from Rochester, New York’s psych-space-doom trio King Buffalo is a stunning debut. The album covers a lot of ground…in outer space, along misty mountain paths, and across desert plains.
The title track opens the album with David Gilmour-like guitar from Sean McVay and builds to a thundering echo rolling down from a lost Greek temple high on a hilltop. McVay’s guitar becomes the Silver Surfer racing across the cosmos while Dan Reynolds‘ bass and Scott Donaldson‘s drums are the engines of Galactus’ ship behind him.
“Monolith” adds some Velvet Underground guitar styling to their repertoire while McVay sings about cosmic things that cause more fascination than fear. It drifts (melts?) right into “Sleeps on a Vine,” a song about a mysterious woman who may or may not be real. Donaldson’s beats almost take the forefront through the whole track, becoming the heartbeat of the man intrigued by the woman (mirage?). It becomes a heavy jam not unlike some All Them Witches tracks, which is no surprise as the bands are friends and ATW is even thanked in the liner notes of the album.
Reynolds’ bass gets “Kerosene” off to a groovy start, and McVay’s guitar sounds like a distant calling vulture at some points in it. Other times, it sounds like a nest of yellowjackets. “Down from Sky” has a countrified sound, complete with slide guitar, setting up the mammoth sounds of the next two tracks – “Goliath” (parts one, the instrumental track, and two, the mind-blowing rocker that opens your eyes and melts your face).
Reynolds and Donaldson hit their instruments so fiercely in spots during “Orion Subsiding” that it sounds like they might break. The album ends with the mind-expanding “Drinking from the River Rising.”
It’s a powerful debut, making you want to track down everything else they have out there. Cosmic rock like this is always fascinating, and King Buffalo do it well.
Keep your mind open.
[Float on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
It’s always good to see Clutch. They never disappoint and always sound great live, so seeing them at a small venue just over an hour’s drive from my house was an easy decision. They’re on their thirtieth year as a band, which is quite impressive.
Opening for them were two other bands I was keen on catching, and the first was King Buffalo, who opened the night with a fine set of space / psych doom rock that was just what I needed after a weird day at work. There weren’t many in the crowd who’d heard of them before, but their merch table was packed immediately after their set. They won over a lot of fans. It would be great to see them on their own.
King Buffalo wowing the crowd.
Up next were desert / stoner rock power trio Stöner, who were equally impressive with heavy bass, garage-psych drums, and cosmic fuzz guitar work. My wife was happy to hear them and understand their lyrics (topics ranging from ghosts to Evel Knievel). They also won over many fans in Ft. Wayne.
Stöner pummeling the crowd with heavy rock.
Clutch came out to a crowd that was, by now, fired up from seeing two bands that were alone worth the price of admission. They launched into a wild set, showing no rust at thirty years of age as a band. Among the highlights of the set were them playing “Far Country” from their first 7″ single back in 1991 and “Passive Restraints” (another early track). Another treat was a new single, the name of which I still can’t find, that has lyrics involving witchcraft, the Mayflower, and Nosferatu.
Clutch hitting it hard after almost two years off.
We overheard a guy on the way out telling his friend that he’d seen Clutch “twenty times” and “that’s probably in the top five” of shows he’d seen. It was a good one. All three bands were hungry for the stage and the energy gained from a live crowd. I certainly needed it, and I got it in spades.
Stone from the Sky is a instrumental stoner trio from France. Formed in 2012, the band is going to release its third album, Songs from the Deepwater, on November 5th, 2021.
They managed to build themselves a strong reputation on the heavy psych & stoner french and European scene thanks to gigs in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, UK or Czech Republic.
Among their influences, we can mention All Them Witches, The Ocean or the french screamo band Mort Mort Mort. Those different references makes the band’s strength, who is able to offer us an evolution with each new album.
On Friday, September 10th, Stone from the Sky release a first single, “City I Angst,” alongside a music video. With this song, the band gives us a tour of their home town of Le Mans, France.
‘‘Songs From the Deepwater’’, November 5th
The band is pursuing its transformation and keeps breaking the rules of traditional stoner rock. This new album is still loyal to the band’s artistic identity but drags us into a darkest and more aggressive atmosphere. No more solar songs “Colour Haze” style to make room to new playing fields inspired by post rock, scream or post hardcore, without denying their fuzz essence.
The 2021 LevitationFrance full lineup has been announced, and it’s a great one.
The show will be at an outdoor venue this year to be a bit safer during the tail end of the pandemic. The Friday night shows include sets by The Limiñanas and Mars Red Sky, while Saturday night has sets by Shame, SLIFT, Zombie Zombie, Anika, and Wild Fox.
I’d be at this festival were it not for a nephew’s wedding that same weekend, but you should go in my stead.
We started off the second day of the Las Vegas Psycho Music Festival with what would become our morning ritual over the next three days – lounging by the Luxor Casino Hotel’s pool in the dry heat after picking up a breakfast sandwich at one of the somewhat-overpriced restaurants in the hotel. We’d relax for a couple hours, wash off the sweat, and then go see some bands. It was a great way to save money because we had little time to spend at the gambling tables and slot machines.
Our musical entertainment began with Foie Gras and her industrial-goth set at the Mandalay Bay House of Blues venue. She put on a good set to an early crowd, and my wife loved her combination of a T-shirt and flamenco dancer sleeves.
Foie Gras with her rockin’ sleeves and blood-painted knees.
Up next was something completely different – a set by Deathchant, who I can probably best describe as sounding like a fuzzier Thin Lizzy. The played the “Rock & Rhythm Lounge,” which is in near multiple restaurants in the casino, so you can get your eardrums blasted while enjoying your expensive wine and French cuisine – or while shoving money into video slot machines. Deathchant were loud and rough and a wild afternoon wakeup call.
Deathchant playing like every song was their finale.
We took a five-hour break, more than enough time to get a nap and dinner before coming back to the Lounge to see British stoner metal quartet Psychlona. It was their first gig win Las Vegas and only their second show of their U.S. tour. “We are so fucking stoked,” their lead singer said, and they certainly played like it. Afterward, their singer told me their set was better than the one they’d just played in San Diego the previous night.
Psycholona – stoked to be there.
Shoegaze quartet Highlands were up next and brought a welcome change of sound to the Lounge and the festival in general. I’m a big shoegaze fan, and they didn’t disappoint. There was a nice, reverb-laden wall of sound coming from the stage for their whole set.
Highlands bring the fuzz.
We then zipped across the casino and back to the House of Blues to see one of my most anticipated sets of the festival – a Bossa nova set from Claude Fontaine. The set was lightly attended, and I couldn’t help but think many were there from a previous metal set or waiting for the next metal band to play after her. The crowd wasn’t sure what to make of her at first, as they’d been so used to metal that a soft set of Bossa nova tracks with dub influences seemed alien to them. Ms. Fontaine put on the loveliest set of the festival (her first time playing in Las Vegas) and the small crowd did come around to appreciating the hypnotizing, alluring music she gave.
Claude Fontaine making all of us swoon.
Our night ended at the Mandalay Beach stage, which sits opposite a man-made beach on a wave pool, where we saw Ty Segall and his band shred the place with their loud psychedelia – their first gig in two years. Segall’s wife even sang lead on one track. They sounded great, and the volume of the band was amplified not only by electronics, but also the water bouncing it all over the place.
Ty Segall and his crew partying at the beach.
It was our busiest day of the festival for bands – six in one day – but there were plenty more to come.
Up next, more shoegaze at the Lounge and three arena shows ranging from dub to goth metal.
Hailing from Argentina, Mephistofeles emerged onto the doom metal scene in 2016 with Whore– an album that feels and sounds as heavy as a war hammer being dragged through a blood-soaked battlefield by a lone warrior approaching a wounded lich. Oh yes, and a lot of it is inspired by lead singer and guitarist Gabriel Ravera‘s ex-girlfriend – a drug addict who made him miserable.
“Black Sunday,” the opening track, alone has enough heavy doom riffs for two albums. The band’s love of Black Sabbath, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Salem’s Pot, and Electric Wizard is evident from the first chords and vocals. Ismael Dimenza‘s bass is as thick as molasses, and Iván Sacharczuk‘s cymbal crashes become hissing, whispering spirits after while. The title track cranks up the fuzz and increases the tempo to an undead army’s marching beat.
“Your life is nothing,” Ravera sings on the cheerfully titled “Kill Yourself,” which feels and sounds like another homage to doom giants Electric Wizard. I like how it turns into a bit of a psychedelic trip for a little while with Dimenza taking his time on the bass,. “Cursed to Death” has a sweet (leaf) groove to it. Ravera’s guitar takes on a bit of an early ZZ Top (or, perhaps, Moving Sidewalks) sound, and Dimenza and Sacharczuk are locked-in on their groove.
“Drug Addict” brings back the heavy stoner rock riffs (How could it not with a title like that?), as Ravera’s vocals take on sounds of desperation, near-panic, and then anger. Meanwhile he and his bandmates pound out some of the heaviest riffs on the album. “Evil Beauty” saunters around the room like a deadly panther that’s actually a transformed sorceress from a hidden temple in an Argentinian jungle who seeks human hearts to complete the ritual that will restore her to human form. “Wizard of Meth” closes the record, complete with weird samples about being torn to shreds and scattered across the universe and sludge riffs that seem to crush you with their mass.
It’s an impressive record, and there’s a punk undertone to it with its attitude and sheer shock value. I can’t help but think some of it is played with a wink, which is cool Doom metal is a serious genre, but it does need to be able to chuckle now and then.
Keep your mind open.
[Crawl over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
