Wretch (1991)

6

(Beginning of What’s About to Happen) Hwy 74 / Love Has Passed Me By / Son of a Bitch / Black Widow / Katzenjammer / Deadly Kiss / The Law / Isolation / I’m Not / Big Bikes / Stage III

Monster Magnet, Sleep, The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Fatso Jetson, Kyuss. All these bands have been considered the founding fathers of stoner rock, and while you could make a case for each of them, few of them have made an impact that looms as large as Kyuss’. Of course, you could say that stoner was invented by acid rockers Blue Cheer or metal godfathers Black Sabbath 35 years ago, but as we know it now (or knew it, as none of the classic stoner bands have maintained their course), stoner was definitely a ‘90’s thing that went largely unnoticed with the explosion of grunge, alternative rock and everything in its wake. Anyway, despite the fact that they never reached stardom during their lifetime, the name of the band brings up a bunch of connotations nowadays. Few bands are considered as synonymous with a genre as Kyuss is. Their second and third album (Blues for the Red Sun and Welcome to Sky Valley – titles that describe the content perfectly) are still considered landmark albums (deservedly so, and quite stunning, given that the members were still in their teens when they recorded them), but their debut album is neglected to such a degree that many people seem to consider it a false start. It happened before (David Bowie, Squeeze, Motörhead, etc), and as usual, there’s a reason. In this case it’s pretty simple: Wretch isn’t really a stoner album. Why? What constitutes a stoner album? I guess that more than anything else it’s about sound and ‘sonic weight’. 95% of all stoner albums are based on thunderous bass, huge, fuzzy guitars and bludgeoning drumming. The average stoner album is the sonic opposite of the average speedy, thinly produced punk album (which is not to say they’re irreconcilable – I love both and wholeheartedly recommend spending the afternoon playing nothing but massive stoner and frenetic punk).

Bands like Motörhead, Stereolab, Oasis, Buzzcocks, Bad Religion have their trademark sound – for better or worse – and when they deviate from the chosen direction, people tend to dismiss them as “they’re not REAL (insert band name).” Wretch, even though it lacks the heaviness of the next albums, is rawer and more aggressive, more indebted to their punk roots and metal riffing. It seems a contradiction, but it isn’t: later efforts often boasted a colossal, larger-than-life sound, but classic stoner always manages to find a balance between heaviness and mellowness. You’d never find a track like “Katzenjammer” on any of their other albums, for instance, as it sounds like a collaboration between Social Distortion and the Supersuckers. The same goes for the nasty, animalistic, two-parted opening track that’s more ferocious than anything they’d do later. The relentless drumming of Brant Bjork is already pretty essential, as is the passionate howling of raw-throated John Garcia, but it lacks the psychedelic frills and turbo bass, even though Oliveri’s four-stringed weapon is suitably dirty on this album. However, there are instances on the album where they band already points forward to their subsequent direction, as “Son of a Bitch” and “The Law” will testify. The first is the sonic equivalent of a small earthquake, a repetitive bulldozer that’s concerned about groove and atmosphere instead of structure, while the second one – which is perhaps even better – also incorporates psychedelic guitar ornaments. It’s not surprising, either, that these songs are the lengthiest tracks (6 and nearly 8 minutes, respectively) on the album, mood pieces that take their time to develop an appropriate heaviness. Regrettably, the majority of the other tracks is of a lower quality, though nothing warrants the “their debut was shitty”-tag. “Love Has Passed” is a rather conventional, sped-up boogie, while “Isolation” and “I’m Not” are founded on big riffs that just don’t make it to the big league. The weakest tracks on the album are those that suffer from the low-budget production job (you need money to sound heavy): “Black Widow” and “Deadly Kiss,” for instance, are virtually bottomless tracks, on which the drum track is waaaay too prominent compared to the rest, making them sound like crappy mid-‘80’s thrash. There are also considerably fewer instrumentals than on their later efforts, with album closer “Stage III” being the only (average) one, here. If Wretch serves one purpose, it must be that it does an adequate job at pointing out some of the band’s early influences (Sabbath, hardcore punk, early grunge like Soundgarden, ‘80’s metal, classic rock – most apparent in the self-confident presence of John Garcia), but it’s also true that it barely hints at the gargantuan heights of what was about to come.

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Blues for the Red Sun (1992)

9

Thumb / Green Machine / Molten Universe / 50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up) / Thong Song / Apothecaries’ Weight / Caterpillar March / Freedom Run / 800 / Writhe / Capsized / Allen’s Wrench / Mondo Generator / Yeah

Massive. There you got it, it’s out, over and done with. In a way, Blues for the Red Sun might be the mother of all stoner-albums, the first example in a genre that contained all the ingredients that are usually mentioned in its context. Of course, many of these elements were already present on the band’s debut. Of course, you can also make a case for the over-the-top heavy psych of Monster Magnet’s Spine of God or even Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but this is it, this is the nadir of stoner. Their third album, Welcome to Sky Valley is often considered an even purer distillation, but I still prefer this baby. A large part of the credit unquestionably needs to go to producer Chris Goss, who gave the band a larger-than-life sound that fit the music perfectly. I mean, just listen to “Thumb,” to Homme’s hypnotic lick and then, after 54 seconds, WWHHHHAAAAAAMMMM, you’re being pummelled by one of the heaviest grooves ever committed to tape. Before Kyuss, there were bands that turned in albums that were ten times as heavy, aggressive, brutal, but none ever sounded as if Godzilla had been awoken in the Californian desert. The outsized production fitted the music perfectly and Goss would subsequently turn this into a kind of trademark, but people often forget it was a combination of several things. A hugely important factor was also drummer Brant Bjork. Even though he was still an adolescent at the time, his out of step-approach to drumming, with a stubborn emphasis on crashing cymbals, would soon be copied by legions of bands. As it is, Bjork also wrote the best songs that weren’t “Thumb.” These songs were basically also the hardest rocking on the entire album, with “Green Machine” being the best of ‘em. It’s still my favorite stoner song, propelled by a mighty, grumbling groove that attacks all the senses. This is also why I’ve always thought that stoner is THE genre that basically has to be experienced live: even though the genre’s rarely as adventurous as late ‘60’s psychedelica was at its time, the encompassing psychedelic experience is kept intact by the performance and the sound. Indeed, most stoner isn’t really concerned about refined content, educational messages and well-constructed lyrics and that’s also exactly why Garcia is also the greatest and most imitated vocalist of the genre – as he knew that a single, memorable hook or recurring sentence could be so much more effective than anything else. The genre is not just about hearing, but about feeling a trance-inducing heaviness. Kyuss is heavy, but they’re rarely abrasive or noise. Instead, they play a kind of über-blues with warm, fuzzy guitar tones and long instrumental passages only occasionally interrupted by a classic rock roar. Anyway, Bjork also wrote the grotesque, multi-parted “50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)” with a memorable “III AAAMM DRINKIIIIINNNN’” from Garcia; the ultra-short instrumental “Caterpiller March” that prepares you for the ultra-heavy onslaught of “Freedom Run,” and also the punk-ish, red hot “Allen’s Wrench.” Besides these songs, the album contains some more classic stuff in the guise of the hilarious stop & start of “Thong Song” (“ I hate… slow soooooongs… OH YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHH” and then this crushing explosion of sound), the heavy psychedelic jam “Apothecaries’ Weight” and Oliveri’s only contribution, “Mondo Generator,” the only track on this album that really goes on for too long (mainly because the undecipherable vocals are constantly distorted and in the red). Blues for the Red Sun should be avoided at all cost if you’re mainly into catchy and crisp songs in the line of the classic pop-tradition, but if you wanna feel like a hippie, yet hesitate to turn to your dad’s albums to live the experience, Kyuss is a great alternative. Hugely important and still a classic of the genre, Blues for the Red Sun is one of those albums that should be heard as loud as possible. Oh yeah.

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Kyuss (a.k.a. (Welcome to) Sky Valley) (1994)

8.5

Gardenia / Asteroid / Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop // 100° / Space Cadet / Demon Cleaner // Odyssey / Conan Troutman / N.O. / Whitewater

Many people consider this the ultimate Kyuss album (and by consequence also the quintessential stoner rock album) and there are certainly arguments to support that vision. Because the focus relies much more on "vibe" instead of song structure and more on sound than actual content, the homogeneity of Kyuss certainly makes it one hell of a listen. The liner notes ask the listener to "listen without distraction" and on top of that, the album is basically a series of three "suites," further enhancing the "album-as-one-statement" character. Whereas there was quite a lot of diversity on Blues for the Red Sun, the songs on Kyuss flow almost seamlessly into each other. Each of the three suites contains some stuff that's simply put, awesome, but unfortunately the song lengths (four of 'em go beyond the 6 minutes-mark) also ensure that there's some rather pointless noodling that could've been edited. But hey, what am I talking about? Jamming was exactly the point and when things did click, the gargantuan sonic desertstorms this band conjured up made you believe that the place they were hailing from was indeed some extraterrestrial location. Just look at the photos and color filters used: rarely does art work fit the content that well, as this is the larger-than-life sound of excruciating heat, sand and sun, and drugged delusions. Pure sound. While many fans would pick a different song and call it the band's masterpiece, a lot of 'em would probably tell you "Gardenia" is the one Kyuss song to rule 'em all. It wouldn't be a bad choice, as the song contains about every ingredient that made this band such an awesome unit during their heights: tribal/pulsating drumming, the excruciatingly heavy bass sounds of Scott Reeder (formerly of The Obsessed), Homme's ridiculously heavy guitar tone and the classic hard rock yelping of John Garcia. Most of their "classic" songs follow a basic pattern and "Gardenia" doesn't differ: there's the spacey, trippy introduction, next the riff-part, then the bridge with usually psychedelic-tinged guitar solo and finally, the key riff again in a bludgeoning work-out. What's often forgotten, however, is that this song - like several other highlights on Blues - was written by the drummer. In fact, Bjork still performs it with his own band - some things are too good to neglect. "Asteroid" is an instrumental monolith that combines Sabbath's minimalism with a load of trippy guitar effects (far out, man!) and "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop" closes the first suite on a high note with a riff that simply destroys, some of Garcia's best vocals, a nifty psych break and, sadly, a minute of false endings that gets really tedious after you've heard it several times (much like one neverending "Walkin' on the Sidewalks" on QOTSA's self-titled album). Suite #2 starts of with the blast of "100°," basically a shorter version of "Green Machine" and a suitable introduction for the (mainly) acoustic trip of "Space Cadet," a cool song, but not really deserving of 7 minutes. After that, "Demon Cleaner," the album's (and band's) most accessible song finishes the suite. Muted when compared to most of the band's work-outs, it benefits most of all from Garcia's nearly ethereal vocals. I heard several times that Tool used to cover the song and even though I haven't heard it, it does make sense when you hear the original. I've never been much of a fan of the third part, though it starts on a high note with the colossal "Odyssey," which features some of the album's best bass parts and a vibe that's guaranteed to take you to places you've never been before. "Conan Troutman" announces itself as "100°, Vol. 2" (straightforward riffery), "N.O." is basically a boogie from hell (what a great guitar tone!) and "Whitewater" another extended epic that contains a tad too much noodling, but like I said, that's all a matter of interpretation and taste. If you're into Kyuss because they, in combination with weed/mescaline/alcohol/whatever your preference, take you to another state of conscience, this heavy psychedelic bluesfest might be(come) your bible, but if you like 'em because of the sheer power of their bludgeoning heaviness and don't want too much jamming, like me, my advice is your starting point is Blues for the Red Sun. That's 15 dollars, then.

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…and the Circus Leaves Town (1995)

8

Hurricane / One Inch Man / Thee Ol' Boozeroony / Gloria Lewis / Phototropic / El Rodeo / Jumbo Blimp Jumbo / Tangy Zizzle / Size Queen / Catamaran / Spaceship Landing

KYUSS-LITE. That's what they say, at least, and it's not hard to find out why. Just open your copy of …and the Circus Leaves Town (or get the shiny vinyl out of the sleeve) and play the first song. It's 2 minutes and 42 seconds long, it's fast (to their standard, at least), catchy (even though it's hard to make out Garcia's vocals with the extremely bass-heavy sound) and unlike anything they recorded before (on top of that, it's my girlfriend's favorite Kyuss-song, and that implies a lot). It's lighter, but that song-title is still appropriate: just check out the fuzzed-out guitar tone and Reeder's elephantine bass playing throughout the song, and basically the whole album: smashing. For some reason, the band moved away from the heavy psychedelic jam-based sound that combined trippy sections with crushing riffs, as most of these songs are shorter (seven songs are around or shorter than 4 minutes), tighter and perhaps even mellower. Whereas Blues and Sky Valley were the aural equivalents of an afternoon in the desert, Circus is the nocturnal counterpart to those albums, offering more escapes from gargantuan bludgeoning and a sound palette that's more diverse. "One Inch Man," for instance, would never have appeared on any of the earlier albums. Carried by bass and drums, it's one of the funkiest things the band has ever recorded, with snappy vocals and muted guitar playing, but when they get to that chorus, it's basically another hurricane you're hearing, the sound of a vacuum cleaner from hell. With Brant Bjork gone and, by consequence, also the fruitful relationship between the drummer and Josh Homme, some of the chemistry and maniacal intensity got lost (although Hernandez did an excellent job at replacing Bjork), but it gives Homme more room to experiment with styles and sounds. On instrumental "Thee Ol' Boozeroony" and the ridiculously cool "El Rodeo" for instance, he introduces melodies that almost sound as if they have a Middle-eastern roots. It's great how he starts from this one silly repeated riff and gradually builds it up for two minutes (the bass-line that's added is one hell of an addition) and then kicks off this led-heavy, relentless second part. Even though this album sounds tighter than the previous two, Kyuss was still very much a playing/jamming band instead of a song-oriented band: "Gloria Lewis" basically continues the same riff, drum patters and bass-line for four minutes, but the way in which Garcia's vocals keep on intensifying (that would also become a trademark of his style with Unida and Hermano), and go from almost a whisper to balls-out roar, is pure class. This simplified rock-approach doesn't always work that well, as the band occasionally neglects the fact that the riffs they're repeating aren't always that interesting. "Phototropic,' for instance, starts off with some of those gentle, almost "watery" soundscapes that are a nice diversion from the monolith riffs. But, the problem is that when it segues into the heavy part halfway the song, it never really gets going. The same could basically be said about "Size Queen", which starts off in awesome fashion with fine vocals and a mid-tempo rock groove, but then descends into monotonous pummelling. However, the album's second part also holds a few surprises in store: instrumental "Jumbo Blimp Jumbo" would've fitted nicely on Sky Valley, while the brief "Tangy Zizzle" is a song that dozens bands would pillage and build a career on. Finally, the album's best moments come at the end: "Catamaran" is a wonderful cover of a Yawningman-song (that band being an early project of stoner guru Mario Lalli) that walks the thin line between melodic melancholy and crushing force, with great performance by Garcia; while "Spaceship Landing" is stoner as most people prefer it: stretched-out psych with throbbing a bass-line, pummelling drums and self-indulgent guitar antics. Like Blues and Sky Valley, this album also has a hidden track, allegedly called "Day One" and written by Reeder as a tribute to Kurt Cobain. While it's certainly too filler-ish to be considered a proper album track, it's more, uhm, interesting than "Lick My Doo" or "Yeah." Lacking the monolithic vibe of their peak work, Circus nevertheless contains some interesting detours that prove the band would've been capable of releasing more worthwhile material if it weren't for the fact that internal tensions and a lack of recognition (both are cited as causes) would lead the band to break up a bit later. Though mainstream recognition eluded them at the time, Kyuss is nowadays considered to be one of the most influential bands of the 90's and one of the true forefathers of all things stoner and related. Looking back on the albums they recorded with Chris Goss, it's not hard to understand why.

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Queens of the Stone Age EP (1997)

7

Into the Void / Fatso Forgotso / Fatso Forgotso Phase II / If Only Everything / Born to Hula / Spiders and Vinegaroons

This EP is pretty hard to find these days, but there's not really no need to worry about that. It contains a few excellent songs, but calling it indispensable if you're not a hardcore Kyuss/QOTSA-enthusiast would be a gross exaggeration. However, it does prove that Kyuss was still going strong musically when they grew up, as "Fatso Forgotso" - obviously a kind of tribute to Mario Lalli's band Fatso Jetson and allegedly recorded while the band was on 'mushroom margaritas' - should be ranked among their very best songs, propelled by scorching riffs, yelping vocals and a percussion-heavy second part that contains some of the band's best jamming. Also their pummelling cover of Sabbath's "Into the Void" kicks some serious butt, despite the fact that you feel Garcia's style isn't exactly suited for an Ozzy-styled delivery. "Fatso Forgotso Phase II" is a brief, kerosene-fueled rocker in the style of "Hurricane" and contains some of Garcia's most intense vocals. The remaining three tracks were recorded by a premature version of Homme's next band, Queens of the Stone Age. Of these three, only the surprisingly bright-sounding and accessible "If Only Everything" stands out. It's not as impressive as the version that would wind up on the band's debut album (as "If Only"), but at the time, this crunching slice of coke-rock must've raised quite a few eyebrows. The remaining two tracks are less interesting (read: hardly interesting at all): "Born to Hula" still packs a punch, despite the rather annoying looped siren, but "Spiders and Vinegaroons" displays a silly self-indulgence, as its basically a 6-minute drone that lacks any substantial ideas. A waste of tape, indeed. It's worth tracking down for "Fatso Forgotso" alone, but other than that, the only Kyuss you need is the hat-trick of Blues for the Red Sun, Kyuss and …and the Circus Leaves Town.

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Read album reviews of similar or related artists: Queens of the Stone Age - Brant Bjork - The Supersuckers - Live Review Brant Bjork

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