GOB-TUM-DEB-LAM-BIB-YOB
chicago may 24
LOCAL LIVE REVIEW
by Velcro Lewis
"what a goddamn night!
i was so happy to see all these bands play last night, especially since i have to skip emissions.
DOUBLE DOOR 9 PM
one o my fav local bands and good old boys BIBLE OF THE DEVIL opened this fucker up with a uber-tight assload of BOC guitar harmonies and gut ripping rock .seriuosly, these guys are the best rock metal out there and when their record comes out on dead teenager this summer, you will all eat it!
"cocaine years, cocaine tears" is my jam!
lamont followed the BoD set with something different but still damn heavy, loose and tuff. i picked up the tour only cd. havent hadtime to listen yet, but you know i will. if these guys are from boston, like i thought i heard them say, then i have new found faith in new england. great hesher camaro rock...
now i havent seen tummler since last time they played with orange goblin, and even then i was really distracted by drinking and drugs, so this ime i was clear headed and really impressed. brad is a rock and roll drill sargent, barking shit and making it look effortless. good set, really good. not nearly long enough.
debris inc, the supergroup if you will, are damn entertaining and put on a great rowdy punk set. ron holzner, dave chandler and fuckin jimmy bower doin covers (even vitus) andmaking the beer go down alot easier. if the rumours are true about a semi-st. vitus reunion this weekend, you fuckers are lucky.
man man man, orange goblin ARE the best damned biker rock band ever. but you already knew that. what can i say that you dont already know? nothing, but i'll tell ya,youd never expect a band like this to be as approachable as orange goblin. great energy, great set. new shit is "tits" as i heard some throwback say...
then i wandered over to the note for the after party after gettin a bunch of hot dogs. the place was packed. like 150 longhairs on a mondau night @ 200am. impressive. the note has become a cool place after all. stu and shawn from chicagostonerrock.com have made this place tolerable with some damn good shows and promotions. ronnie from indian behind the bar = glug glug glug.
while double fisting , i watched this YOB band destroy the place. cool heavy woodsmen metal. they played a long set, which was cool since all the bands i saw earlier had to play bshorter sets.
anyway, every may/july we get a bunch of great bands rolling thru on their way to emissions and it makes up for my lack of gettin my ass to youngstown."
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Send Material for Review to:
Stu Helm
c/o ChicagoStonerRock.com
1573 N. Milwaukee Ave., PMB 488
Chicago, IL 60622 USA
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" S "
THE SABIANS
"Shiver"
What can I say about the Sabians, except that I had HIGH HOPES for this one, seeing as how it has Chris Hakius & Justin Marler from Sleep on it, but it was not like Sleep at all. Far far from it, in fact. Like, the opposite of Sleep. Most Un-Sleep-Like, indeed. As a whole, I found this CD to be too poppy for me, but it does have decent moments , including what sounds lik a heavy version of the folk standard "Will the Circle be Unbroken," titled here, "Broken Circle."
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SALT OF THE EARTH
"The Purity of Oblivion"
Salt of the Earth is one of my favorite local (Indiana) bands and their new 4 song CD demo is totally awesome. To my ears, these guys sound a lot like High On Fire, but have their own sound for sure, that's slower and more classic-doom, with lead guitars that are sweet and psychedelic, but ripping and tough at the same time. Seeing these guys live is a treat, because they're just three dudes tearing through a kick-ass set with very little hoo-ha in between songs. "This one's called Not of This Earth." might be the only words you'll hear coming from the stage all night, other than lyrics, of course, which are delivered in a way that reminds me of Sleep's Jerusalem epic. I can't wait to hear what these guys sound like once they get signed and put out full length! Aything they do is pre-destined to be a future classic.
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SAMUS
"Desengano"
Wow! One of my new all-time favorites, this disc is a masterful trip through a burbling stew of meaty morsles & tasty treats. From pure sludged-out doom, to crazy tape-loop'd beats & samples, to a completely insane exotica version of the classic instumental song "Caravan" (Benny Goodman, The Ventures, etc.) this CD is a schmorgey-borgey of deranged delights. Highly recommended for people who like it heavy & wierd at the same time.
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SCENE KILLER
Self Titled CD
Another super group, this time made up of people from Solarized, The Atomic Bitchwax, Core, Monster Magnet, & Others. Annoyingly detailed liner notes don't detract from the undeniable greatness of the music. Heavy, bluesy, trippy, & peddle laden stoner rock at it's finest. Future Classics abound.
"
SECRET BEACH
"Solos"
This DIY CDR from local artist Eric Roth is about one-hundred-million-trillion times lighter than most of the music I listen to, but, despite my bad-ass metal self, I think I like it. The all-instrumental songs are very well constructed and executed on guitar, bass, keyboards and synth., but part of what I like about it is the story behind it. Eric described in an e-mail to me, what sounded like great times, late night jams, good friends, psychoactive drugs and a really cool spot along the lakeshore that the tunes grew out of. I've always been a fan of mellow moods induced through music -- I had an awesome collection of Hawaiian vinyl for a good many years -- and I still buy those cheesy "environmental" CDs that have babbling brooks, singing crickets, and what-not on them, so I was psyched that Eric also chose to include 19 minutes of raw recorded sound from the shore of the lake. Whooshing waves, chirping birds... ahhhh... sleepy time... The jacket includes the tabulature, so that any one of us might some day find and join Eric, to jam it mellow, on his secret beach.
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SIXTY WATT SHAMAN
"Reason to Live"
Straight up awesome kick-ass stoner rock, with ample fuzz, catchy riffs, & tough, but "singerly" vocals. The Track "Our Name is War" is a highlight. Very awesome tune.
"
SLEEP
"Jerusalem"
Awesome Classic. Own it. Love it. Don't be lame, you fuck.
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SMOKE
"SMOKE 2004 EP"
Aaaawe yeah! Here at the House of Mumble, SMOKE (from California) is one of our all time favorite bands, and they are totally kick-ass guys that we met and smoked with, when they played here about a year ago.
When they told us they had a new 4 song EP out, we nearly shit, and when they sent us a couple of copies, we really did shit. Turds of joy!
"Old Mil." is the third cut, and my current favorite. It's a long, slow, building, driving, instrumental that "Kicks-in" about five or six different times through out the song, getting heavier each time. Other tracks include a new version of "Here it Comes" (originally from their first LP), and a new version of "Preacherman" (previously only available on the THUNDERFUCK 69 cassette tape & obscure comps), as well as a low and slow bluesy number called "Succubus" that will sneak up on you and hump your mind like a very large dog on a very hot day.
We're also psyched to hear from Marc in Smoke that they're in the studio again, recording another full-length, and itching to get back on the road. He assures us that Chicago is going to be one of their main stops! We'll keep you posted.
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SMOKE
Self Titled & "Smoke Follows Beauty"
Smoke is my current favorite band. I burned both of these discs onto the hard drive of my Mac so that:
a) I could hear all of their songs in a row, mixed together sweetly & seamlessly by i-tunes, &
b) so that I could keep the original discs as pristine as possible.
That means I'm a geek for this band. All together, this trio dishes up 13 tracks of heavy, bluesy, stoner rock, cloaked in a thick shroud of mystery, sex depravity, & murder. Awesome vocals, ambient interludes; this shit's got it all. Both discs are still available from the band.
"
SONIC FLOWER
"Heavy Sonic & Flower Groove"
Another guitar oriented band from Japan. These guys have some connection to Church of Misery that I'm too stupid to know, and too lazy to find out. They don't sound much like CoM, that much I know. They're an all instrumental 4 piece, and the music sounds a little "by the numbers" to me at times, but it's good heavy groove rock. Not as psychotic as, say, High Rise, but not un-psychotic either.
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SONIC LORD
"Trawling Through Sludge"
I think I paid. like, seven dollars per song to have an e-Bay dude in Germany ship this 2 song EP to me here in the States, and when it got here, it was only a CDR with a color-copy cover. But, you know what, I was psyched, because the first song alone is worth a million Euros to me, so the second song is just gravy, and really good gravy at that. Sonic Lord is a slow, heavy, sludged out doom band, of the variety that Europe seems to be churning out these days (I think they're from England). To my ears, they sound a little bit like the band Sally, or maybe like Orange Goblin on quaaludes, but even heavier. Yep, at roughly $1.15US per minute, I'm a satisfied buyer, and I left positive feedback.
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SONS OF OTIS
"Temple Ball"
A Stoner Rock classic. An awesome spaced-out jouney into heavy heaven. Skip over track 7, and you'll be orbiting earth in no time.
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SPACEMEN 3
"Alternate Mixes 1987 -89"
More mellow than the usual stoner rock stuff I play, but more rockin' than the current strains of space rock I hear these days. They remind me of the Stooges meets Brian Eno, or something like that.
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SPACEBOY
"The Force that Holds Together a Heart Torn to Pieces"
You might think, from the title of this disc, that you're in for some sort of horrible Emo type of experience. But then, you might think, from the band name, the cover artwork, and song titltes like "Strange New Powers" & "Pot Hybernation" that maybe you're in for a trippy droney space-rock ride. But then you might notice that it's produced by Billy Anderson, so you know it's gots to be HEAVY. Well, Spaceboy ain't Emo, that's for sure, and it ain't space-rock either, even though it has some awesome spaced-out moments. This four song EP is very heavy, and abbrasive, and most enjoyable indeed.
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SPRITUAL BEGGARS
"On Fire"
DAMN. There is SO much good rock and roll from Europe. I didn't even realize, when I bought this CD, that the singer is the guy from Grand Magus, one of my favorite bands of all-time. This disc only sounds like GM sometimes -- "Young Man, Old Soul" for example -- but it rocks from beginning to end. As compared to GM, it's generally faster & funkier, and it has an organ throughout, which I always dig.
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STARCHILD
"S/T"
Think: Early Sabbath. That's what this new Starchild CD sounds like to me, and that's what it'll sound like to you too. If you like early Sabbath -- and you'd better, or you're pretty fuckng lame -- you'll love Starchild, because it's like a whole bunch of brand new early Sabbath songs are being written in the present. Great new songs like, "The Futurist," "Freeedom," and "God Shaped Hole," just to name three, although the CD is awesome from beginning to end, so I just named three random songs off of it. I could have just as easily named "Wings," Eyes of Fire," or "Truth," because those sound like great new old Sabs songs too. Eight songs altogether, and not one that doesn't rule.
THE SUMMER PEOPLE
Self Titled
You know how with some bands, you can say, like, "They'd be awesome if they only had a better singer..." or "They just need a good producer, or sound guy..." or whatever? Well, The Summer people just need a good artist to do the front cover of their CD to achieve stoner rock greatness. The fuzz bass, psychedelic leads, spacey moments, and Fu Man Chu-y vocals are ALL GOOD & place these guys solidly in the Stoner Rock catagory, but this cover art has indie-rock cut-out bin written all over it. It's a good thing they sent it to me for free, because, even though the tunes rule, I never would have bought it if I saw it in a store. So, don't YOU be fooled by the cover: if you see it, buy it!
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" T "
TEN MILES WIDE
self titled
These guys are from Canada, so right off the bat I'm jealous that their country has cooler marijuana laws than we do, but I won't hold that against them! Ten Miles Wide totally rock. They're heavy, but not doomy, & they sound a little bit like Tummler to me at times, but not always. "Ol Bluey" is like cowboy stoner rock. "Pilsner" is a heavy instumental highlight here, and "The Bloodening I & II" are two great song titles for two great songs. Each less than 20 seconds long.
"
TERMINAL CHEESECAKE
"Angels in Pigtails"
&
"Pearlesque King of the Jewmost
Oh Man, it took me a long time and costed me a lot of money to find, bid on and finally win a couple of friggin' Terminal Cheescake CDs on e-bay. They go for BIG BUCKS, my friends. BIG bucks. Totally worth it though, if you like the kind of music that is so stoned, so strange, and so heavy that it is confined to the now defunct Pathologocal Records, a label for the criminally insane.
"
TEST SITE
"S/T"
Sometimes my roomate drives all the way up to Milwaukee just to see bands, and sometimes he comes back with news about a kick-ass band from up there that we'd never heard of before. Test Site is one of those kick-ass bands. Formerly known as Black Water, this power-trio delivers hard, heavy, thumping, psychedelic rock that pulls no punches, and shows no mercy. Music to ride motorcycles to, and to drink, smoke, fuck and do everything else Rock to. The CD is packed with one superbly crafted and delivered song after another, and seeing these guys live -- according to my roommate -- is an experience you won't want to miss.
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T.H.U.M.B.
"Lunar Flight EP"
Knowing that former members of the obscure Italian Ooze Rock gods, Fat Rat Grumble where in T.HU.M.B., I naturally had very high expectations for this new EP. I'm happy to reprt that all expectations were met and exceeded. While it's not as experimental or weird as FRG, the chops are there, and it has the sort of architypical European stoner rock sound that I really love (Twin Earth, Mushroom River Band, Lowrider). The title track is a 9 minute space rock journey through the riff nebula system to the galaxy of sonic star clusters, while the other two songs are more rockin' roll, if you know what I mean. There's also a minute and a half of chanting and random noises called Kobal, The Eggman from Venus. I'd compare this EP very favorably to the Monster Magnet classic Tab 25.
"
TORA! TORA! TORRANCE!
"A Cynics Nightmare"
Originally, I wasn't going to review this CD, not because I don't like it -- because I do -- but because it's not stoner rock. It's punk, more or less. It's snotty, high pitched, annoying punk rock music at it's most post-punk finest, and therefor, not on target for this here Stoner Rock web site. BUT, then I heard the very last song on the CD, mixed into everything else in my i-tunes folder, and my stoned mind MISTOOK it for Sunn0)))! So, there ya go, that qualifies it for a review. So, I like it, so go buy it.
"
TORSO
"Self Titled"
I'm beginning to think that local three piece heavy intrumental bands are growing in the sewers underneath this city, C.H.U.D.-like. Torso is another fine example of such a band. This demo seems like they've got some room to grow, but it holds a lot of promise. The last tune, "ava 243" is a particularly cool one. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys live.
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TRIBES OF NEUROT
"Adaptation & Survival"
This 2 disc CD of droning "insect" noises is meant to be played on two sound systems at the same time, which we did, and it was pretty cool... if you like lots of lots insect noises... which, apparently we do, because we are now drones in the Neurot collective.
"
TUALATIN
Self Titled CDR
These guys list Slayer, Sleep, Celtic Frost, & High on Fire as their influences, and I think they would make any of those bands proud with this 3 song EP. The music really drives hard and drones from time to time, like Sleep's Jerusalem, or HoF's Surrounded by Thieves. The 3rd song on this disc totally kicks ass, and has a very unique & spaced-out ending. Good shit from this Atlanta based trio! I can't wait to hear a full length.
"
TUMMLER
Live at The Note on July 31st, & "Early Man" CD
I bought Tummler's CD at the show, & it was a wise purchase. The six tracks listed are great, & the two secret bonus tracks are even greater than that. It's on Small Stone records, which pretty much tells you that you can't go wrong, right?
Tummler is from Champaign, IL, but call both Chicago & St. Louis home as well. I went to see them on a tip from another local band, 18 Speed Tranny, & I'm glad I did. These guys launched a heavy sonic stoner space metal attack on the audience, with strange , but excellent vocals that lie somewhere between Wino & James Hetfield. Their closing number was a longer, slower song, which was the highlight of their set for me. My friend Amy agreed, even though she was mostly there to see The Good God Damns, who were the first band to play, & were pretty good, goddamn it!
"
TWIN EARTH
"Black Stars in a Silver Sky"
This 9 track release from the North Pole contains many a Future Classic within. Of that there is little doubt. One of my all-time favorite discs, I have played this one to death for my roommate, I'm sure. Although as true immortal gods, Twin Earth can surely never die. Mayhap of Kyuss born, they doth yet posses their own awesome powers, & cosmic arsenal. Imbued with the sage wisdom of all ages, they are indeed worthy of much praise. All Hail, Beard of Stars records for releasing & making available to us this mighty volume! All Hail Twin Earth!
" U "
UFOMAMMUT
"Snailking"
This CD is an instant contender for Disc of The Year here at CSR.com HQ! UFOMAMMUT delivers everything the very stoned listener could ever ask for: power chords galore, psychedelic sounds 'n' samples out the wahzoo, spacey interludes, moments of pure doom, fuzz bass riffs, distorted vocals, & obscure themes that stretch the imagination are just a few of the festive features that the bong-hitting community will find here. Heavy as Hell, yet mellow at the same time, if it only came with a bag of salty snack foods, it would be the ultimate high experience
UP JUMPED THE DEVIL
"A Tribute to Robert Johnson"
Okay, so I bought this Japanese Compilation tribute, not because I'm big time into Robert Johnson or anything, but because it was only $6.99 and contains a 10 minute song by the awesome doom / sludge / metal / psych / experimental 3-piece band BORIS. Do you know how much anything associated with Boris goes for on e-bay?!? It's crazy! Like $30 bucks, with 6 days left in the auction & shit! So, I saw it languishing in the bin of my local used record store & snagged it. Is it any good? Oh yeah, it's good. It has some throw aways on it for sure, but the Boris tune alone is worth the .69 cents a minute that I paid for it. Plus, there's some insane gems that are totally bonus.
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URSA
"Maximum Volume = Maximum Results" Demo
Ursa is a local band that I would describe as artistically doom-like. There's a chick singer a lot of the times, and towards the middle to the end of the disc, the music takes on an Acid King quality that I really dig. There are some longer, heavy droning-guitar songs on here, and those work out into nice noisey jams and relentless riffs that are pretty great too. Look to see these guys playing live in a tiny club near you, because I bet they are loud as fuck.
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" V "
VESPERTINE
"Transmission from Antiworld"
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think that this CD was created entirely by one man, & his sonic doom machine. Another droning sound track to the horror movie we call living. I like it because it makes me smile.
"
VIAJE A 800
"Diablo Roto De..."
If you like Los Natas, which I do, you're practically guaranteed to dig Viaje A 800. They're slightly heavier, doomier, more psychedellic, and experimental than Natas (all good things), but they've got the same awesome stoner riffs & mellow wanderings going on. And if you can understand Spanish, bonus for you!
" WXY "
WALL OF SLEEP
"Overlook the All"
Heavy, riffy, stoner doom rock from Hungary. 4 tracks, 2 of which might rank as Future Classics some day. The gratuitous straight forward cover of Sabbath's "The Wizard" is made more interesting by the amusing Hungarian Accent.
"
YOB
"Elaborations on Carbon" & "Catharsis"
YOB has one of the most unique sounds going in the Doom scene. With vocal stylings that range in delivery from that of a derranged insect on Mars to Cookie Monster on a downer, and music that is HEAVY, with interludes of spaced-out bliss, YOB brings it all to the Stoner-Drug-Metal party. They even include the sounds of drizzling rain on the first disc, so you have a built-in excuse to stay inside, get high, and listen to YOB all day. We sometimes argue about which of these two releases is better, but the truth is, you should almost always listen to them back-to-back as if they are one CD.
" Z "
ZAIUS
Self Titled
These guys will probably cringe when they read this, but I AM lazy, and these ARE lazy music reviews, so I'm just going to say the unavoidable: Zaius sounds like Sound Garden. Almost exactly! So, if you like Sound Garden -- and we do like Sound Garden -- you'll love Zaius. In fact, I'm jealous of every kid that grew up in & around Herrin, Illinois, because it would be like growing up with Sound Garden in your home town, and that would fucking rule. These guys are proud founding members of SIMC.
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ZAIUS
"3 Song Demo"
Zaius fucking tears it up with this killer new demo, featuring an awesome new sound from these hard working, grizzled, gods of rock. As founding members and organisers of the Southern Illinois Metal Collective (SIMC), Zaius has been crushing killing and destroying enthusiastic crowds of kids in tiny venues, in small towns in the bottom half of the state for years. They've gone through some shit, and some changes, and their sound is crustier, crunchier, heavier, and more doom-laden than ever. I fuckin' love it! The new singer has an awesome rough-hewn delivery, and the guitars are grinding and psychedellic, in a very loud and raunchy way. Make no mistake, this shit is METAL, and will destroy all fake metal on contact. It compares very favorably to Church of Misery, and all three songs are instant favorites around here. The salute to "Badass Steve" McQueen is much appreciated!
Listen to "Mississippi Pirates" HERE.
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ZEBULON PIKE
Self Titled CDR
Five songs, no vocals, ALL GOOD. These guys almost sound like Black Sabbath never replaced Ozzy, but decided to become an instrumental band. Really great riffs, really awesome song titles such as (Behold!) The Wizzard's Fountain, The White Light of Black Stars, & Ümlaüt Överdöse, and no really stupid lyrics to ruin the rock.
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