Holy Mushroom's sophomore album conducive to meditating, medicating

Pink Floyd, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, these are just a few of the influences the members of Oviedo, Spain's tripped out foursome Holy Mushroom cite as inspiration for their psychedelic psilocybin lovin' anthems that comprise the new album Moon.

Moon, a spaced-out sophomore trip at 44 minutes in length, consists of five songs, largely instrumental in nature, although bassist Alex Castro does sing on occasion.

Let's dive right in.  The first offering is a trippy little ditty titled "La Caverna" which translates as "The Cavern."  It begins with a bit of Spanish dialogue from a film, I believe, though I'm not certain what movie it is from.  The Spanish speaker says, "Al salir y ver al fin / Aquella sucia tarde de otro tiempo / El sol azul por vez primera / no era el sol, sino nostros.*"  What that roughly translates to is:

          "Going out and seeing at last / That dirty afternoon of another time /
          The blue sun for the first  time / It was not the sun, but us."

A peculiar passage for certain, one to ponder upon if you're partaking, or meditating, as you sit back and let the sounds of Holy Mushroom flow through you.   The jazzy guitar and airy percussion work, along with a soulful bass line, bring this tune together as it builds and builds and finally explodes into a Floyd-esque guitar solo.  Then the percussions go a tap, tap, tap like rain on a tin roof, before a drum roll and then another scintillating solo, one maybe borrowing more from Jimmy Page this time rather than David Gilmour.  All in all a tripped out, fuzzy and and full on psychedelic ride.

Drummer Pablo Argüelles really shows his jazz chops and keyboard player Enol Cuesta tickles the ivories on "Birdwax Blues."  This is one of the few places where Castro stretches out and expresses himself vocally.   He has a a distinct European singing style.  What I mean by that is that traditionally, Europeans have treated the voice like a musical instrument itself.   His delivery is nasally and to me at least, that is problematic.  Reading through fan criticisms on YouTube, the ONLY negative thing ever said about

this group is when it comes to the vocals.  A few negative comments pepper the YouTube comments section about the said vocals.   The vox, however, are not the dominating aspect of Holy Mushroom by any stretch of the imagination.

Don't believe me, keep listening beyond "Birdwax" and you'll become a believer.   The nearly 13 minute long epic "The Preacher" follows and it is magnificent in its slow, elegannt  climb.  Floyd like in its opening, with dreamy keys and bass.  Yes, Castro does sing a bit, but it's a minor distraction here.  Just listen to that bass and it builds and scales upward.  When Alberto Arce joins in on guitar for a little tease then fades back into the mix you long for him to cut loose.  Well I assure you, it's coming, in bombastic style, it's coming.  He breaks back in from time to time to let you know he's still there, then with six minutes left in the song, there's a pause as the bands collects itself it seems.  When they kick back in the jam is different, with Arce taking more of the lead role.  A few more lines of vocals near the end and were done.  Whew!  A near religious experience is "The Preacher."

The song "Eufrates" was previously released as a single, but just in case you're not familiar with it yet we'll hit the highlights.  The first couple minutes the band plays light jazz bits, building for what is to come, which is a tribute, if you will, to many of the bands the inspire them.  At the two minute mark I'm hearing The Doors plain and simple.  I can picture Ran Manzarek on the keys, John Densmore working the kit and Robbie Krieger on guitar here.  Then around the three minute mark the band shifts gears and channel their inner Pink Floyd for a little over a minute.  Psychedelic sounds of Rick Wright's keyboards, Nicky Mason's skins, the bass of Roger Waters and guitar work of David Gilmour shine through, with around three minutes left in the song Arce breaks free and its time to pay respects to Hendrix.  The band closes it up in the final minute with an all out jam.  This tune is the album's centerpiece in my opinion, a stupendous piece of work.

Finally, we reach the closer, "A Grand Finale In the Blind Desert."  The opening riff actually reminds me a little of the Bond Theme.  There are some other complexities going on around the riff, drum rolls and fills, and a bass line, but still, it insists itself upon my memory until the tune rearranges itself a bit about three minutes in.  I actually am reminded of many of the desert set films I've seen, Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and others.  At 3:45 the tune changes again, to almost a festive atmosphere, and the saxophone joining in the mix REALLY reinforced the movie memories.  A snazzy little solo flare to finish and the album comes to a close.

This is a brilliant album to just throw on and relax to, not a complete psychedelic freak out, but a definite light mood enhancer that will mellow you right the fuck out if you're having a bad day or just need some time to decompress.  Have a drink, or if yo live where it's legal, something stronger, and enjoy Holy Mushroom's Moon.  95 out of 100.

Excerpted from the band's press material:
Holy Mushroom is a Heavy Psych band from the north of Spain.  Formed in 2016 by four musicians from 19-23 years old, it combines classic sounds of the sixties psychedelic music with modern styles. 

*Spanish dialogue provided by Holy Mushroom, translated via Google Translate, after my own paltry Spanish skills produced a VERY BAD translation.

Holy Mushroom on Facebook.
Holy Mushroom on Bandcamp.







                                   

Cosmic Fall joins the space race, releases In Search Of Outer Space

Cosmic Fall found themselves in a unique situation coming into the creation of the new record, In Search Of Outer Space, having to replace departed guitarist Mathias Rosmann.  Enter Martin Morawski.  He joins the founding rhythm section of Daniel Sax (drums) and Klaus Friedrich (bass/vocals) on one of the band's most ambitious releases to date, In Search Of Outer Space.

I tried to familiarize myself with Cosmic Fall's back catalog of work before launching into my review of the new record and I must admit some frustration.  At the insistence of Rosmann, the band has removed its previous releases from its Bandcamp page so I had to look elsewhere for  material.  From 2016's debut First Fall I was only able to track down two tunes, "Sun Of a Gun" and "Jam I."  From the 2017 follow up Kick Out the Jams, I found three tracks, "Earthfull," "Interstellar Junction," and "Cosmic Conclusion."  Finally, from the Cosmic Fall/Apodyl Starsplit I was only able to run down the song "Overhead Intelligence."  I wanted t at least be passingly familiar with the body of work the band had produced with its previous axeman so I could see how it has grown with the addition of Morawski.  Well, I'm here to report, the band's guitar duties are in safe hands indeed.  I heard hints of some of the greats while listening to In Search Of Outer Space, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour (particularly during "Purification") and Saint Jimi to name a few.  The band hasn't just replaced a guitarist, I believe they have taken a step forward in songcraft from what I was able to sample and I think Morawski is a fine fit.

On to the album.

"Jabberwocky" connects instantly.  It's a tale of swordplay and weed worship, wrapped in low pitched, swirling psych guitar.
   
          "He knows she comes with vorpal sword
          And he is praying to the lord
          The only thing that still remains
          Is smoking weed in wasteland plains"

And then we're treated to some more of that low end guitar growl for a few moments before we get the second verse, and denouement:

          "At least refreshing and last hope
          That everything can solve the dope
          He doesn't want to catch and bite
          Just sharing with the girl his pipe

          "Unlucky stoned Jabberwocky!"

I LOVE the lyrics to this song, even if I have to dock Friedrich a few style points overall for the vocal delivery.  His monotone, slightly nasal, traditional Krautrock singing voice just isn't my cup of tea.  But Cosmic Fall makes it work, focusing primarily on the jam, the lyrics and vocals are secondary to the album.  In fact, only two tracks, opener "Jabberwocky" and closer "Icarus" of the six tunes on In Search Of Outer Space have vocals.

The second tune, "Narcotic Vortex " sees Freidrich hold down the low end while Dan  plays some light jazz on the skins and Martin  gets positively psychedelic and spacey with his picking and playing, building toward a nice and rather unexpected Sax drum solo, before the band comes together to close things out.

"Purification" could easily find itself at home on a Pink Floyd album, but Morawski is channeling his inner Hendrix on "Lumberjam," as he blazes a trail of fuzz and distortion, soloing all the way. 

The next to last track is the trippy "Spacejam."  With all the studio effects laid on top of the band's instruments on this particular track, it makes for some  truly spaced out experimental psychedelia and I'm a huge fan of this particular track.  Martin's guitar sounds like a piano, the drums have an echo on them, the bass is tripping all the while.  This may be my favorite track on the record.

We close with the tale of "Icarus."

          "You tried to fly so high, touching the sun
          The vision of being on top with the gods
          Such a great dream was never done
          Icarus' wings burned by the sun."

It's a familiar tale for certain.  Wings made of wax, melted when they got too close to the heat of the sun and man plummeted to the ground and his death.  Man wishing to touch the divine.  Cosmic Fall does this tale justice, swirling psychedelic guitar, driving bass and pounding drums.  Then everything mellows for the lyric break and delivery for verse one and two (editor's note: verse two not reprinted here.)  Then the song picks back up and turns back into the frenzied beast it was during the opening section for a few moments before evaporating, thus bringing a most excellent trip to a close.

I eagerly anticipate the vinyl release of Cosmic Fall's In Search Of Outer Space.  Pre-Orders for that hot ticket begin on April 30, and the vinyl itself will be released on May 30.  For now, I'll will have to satisfy myself by connecting my iPhone to my stereo and blaring the mp3s version of In Search Of Outer Space over my stereo speakers until I can drop the needle on the physical product.  It's a physical product I deem worthy of adding to my personal collection, by the way. which means it rates at least an 85 out of 100.  In actuality, I score it a lofty 95.  This is an amazing record.

Lyrics and photos provided by Cosmic Fall.
Cosmic Fall on Facebook.

Record Butler saves your vinyl, gives you a helping hand

I recently found myself in a precarious situation for any vinyl enthusiast or audiophile, I was facing a period of time without the use of one of my arms, possibly on a permanent basis.  Now I spin records nearly 10-15 hours a day every day that I'm home, being disabled, that's most days.  Music and vinyl is my life.  After a trip to the Emergency Room to rule out stroke and life-threatening dangers, and another trip of my family physician and another to my neurologist, was all taken care of, the next thing I did was get online and visit my vinyl groups on Facebook and share my problem.

PERHAPS you can spin a 45 with one hand.  But my 45 collection is meager at best. Nineteen Iron Maiden singles from the 80s, a Prince Record Store Day picture disc 7," a U2 Batman Returns single, about a dozen stoner rock releases from Monster Magnet, Clutch, The Well, and Roadsaw, and a Flexi-Disc from a Bloom County comic collection.  That's about it.

Most of my collection is LPs.  Those typically require two hands, unless you're just going to man-handle your vinyl and get finger prints all over the disk and risk damaging the grooves.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  I tried to awkwardly spin a disc or two.  I nearly dropped them.  It was a near disaster.  I gave up hope.  But one poster, I have sadly lost his name to the annals of time, recommended something called a Record Butler.  He provided a link to the product on Amazon which I now share: Record Butler.

I was skeptical but willing to try ANYTHING that might allow me to spin my beloved records. 
About five days went by and I either spun 45s, or nothing at all.  The, the Record Butlers arrived, a two pack.  I took the orange one in my right hand.  Got out a record, I don;t recall what it was, but it certainly WAS NOT Iron Maiden.  I folded the Butler in half as instructed and slid a record neatly out its jacket, using my knees and one hand.  VIOLA!  It worked!  I was able to place the record onto the platter with one hand while not damaging the vinyl, as the fleece on the Record Butler provided a soft barrier of protection.  I was once again able to spin my records, even while temporarily incapacitated, able to use just one arm.

And, the fleece on the Butler allows you to clean the record too. For under ten dollars, this is one accessory I simply have been unable to do without.  I'll order another pair or two just to have around in the event that I wear out my first two, but so long as you do not get them dirty and store them properly, they seem to hold up pretty well so far.  I've been using the first one now for about three months and haven't had to soil my second one.

Get a pair or two and see what you think, especially if you find yourself in a one-arm pinch at some point.  Or gift a set to an audiophile you know who may be unaware of this product but in need of it particular ability to expand one's dynamic range.  Rating this product, we score it an Most Excellent 90/100.

Enchantelope's Dungeons & Dragons homage a ripping good time

90/100

Right from the monstrous opening riff of "Eighteen Doors," the lead track of Enchantelope's debut long-player Natural 20, the listener is grabbed by the short hairs, your attention is commanded for this balls-out, no non-sense stoner rock homage to Dungeons & Dragons.  With an album title like Natural 20, and song titles such as "Cone of Cold," "The Necromancer," "Dimension Door," "Eye of Fear and Flame," and "Malleus Maleficarum," all D&D references,  I pretty much knew I was at least going to like the subject matter, having come up playing the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons since I was 12 years old.  While the subject matter may have piqued my curiosity about this album, it was the groovy, sludge-tinged rock 'n' roll blaring from my speakers that held me fast.

The guitar acrobatics of Steve Angers is all over this record, and the low end, handled by duel threat bassist and drummer Mike Palm, is rock solid.  Angers is also the vocalist.  He doesn't have a clean delivery, but I wouldn't call it a dirty vocal either.  Somewhere between a fierce growl and clean vocal and it fits the subject matter and the musical style to a tee.

I find myself curious about the Dungeons & Dragons module, or campaign even that led to the creation of this album.  I want to ask the band about their characters, their misadventures, how long their game lasted, etc.  I just know some good stories would arise from tale that birthed the crafting of this record.

"Cone of Cold" has a groove that reminds me of Pantera when they were at their funkiest, laying down the power grooves.  "The Necromancer" opens with a similar groove after a brief crack of thunder.  Now that I think about that, that's really a good description.  Enchantelope has a sound that crosses power groove with 70's guitar rock and throws in a hint of space rock to make it psychedelic and trippy in places.

The guitar solo that closes out "The Necromancer" is one of my favorite parts of the record.  It's blistering in intensity.   Favorite tracks include the aforementioned "The Necromancer," "Eighteen Doors," and "Cone of Cold."  The songs on this record are ready made to tell a story via a string a video releases.

One wonders what this duo will do when it comes time to take Natural 20 on the road, will Palm opt to play drums or bass, will Angers still play lead parts while singing?  I don't know how they handle that.  The band has been together 10 years so one presumes they've played live in the past and have these logistical issues answered already.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this record.  It's not what I'd term an "Instant Classic" that must be in every collection, but damn it's good and I'm certainly adding it to my vinyl collection.  I rate it a 90 out of 100.  

At press time the band had just sent out a notice that the vinyl releases had arrived two to three weeks earlier than anticipated and were beginning to be shipped out immediately. Since the vinyl was limited to 100 pieces, I recommend you get it while the getting is good.

Half dozen albums from 2017 that get the ITTP's seal of approval

100/100

Last year I listened to some stoner/doom records even if that wasn't the focus of this page.  I even purchased a few in various formats, the most recent of which was an album I determined to be the Album of the Year across ALL formats of music, and that was a record released on the late date of December 7th, namely The Atomic Bitchwax's Force Field, wholly excellent from end to 70's rocking end.  An incredible feast of riffs that breezes by in just 35 minutes, it doesn't come up for air except to flip the record if you're listening to it in good ole vinyl format, otherwise you do not get a break.  This power trio comprised of Monster Magnet rhythm section Chris Kosnik (band leader on bass and vox) and (drummer and pianist) Bob Pantella, alongside guitarist Finn Ryan, has really changed directions since coming together on 2008's The Atomic Bitchwax - 4, written stylistically as T4B, going more for the throat on the past couple of releases.

95/100

Up next, a record I truly love, Iron & Stone's Petrichor.  Issued on November 3, this album delivers nine tracks of sludgy goodness, with one acoustic interlude aptly titled "Interlude" sitting in the five hole.  The band had an earlier release, the 2015 EP titled Old Man's Doom, which I freely admit I am not familiar with at this stage in the game.  I need to check it out.  I only came across this record back in late February so it hasn't gotten a great deal of play yet, but I've quickly grown attached to it, especially the mountainous opener Avalanche.  I love this band's succinct one word titles, all except "Northern Lights."  I'm normally one who lean's more to the psychedelic side of the stoner/doom metal side of things, shunning dirty or screamed/shouted vocals, but they really work nicely here.  (Editor's Note:  There are a number of the shouted vocals types I do enjoy however, such as Bongzilla, Pyraweed, Eagle Twin, etc.)

90/100

This brings us up to a band and album recommending to me by a friend of mine in the gaming community.  That record is Elder's Reflections Of a Floating World.  At the time of his recommendation, my friend also recommended their 2015 album Lore, which I actually like MORE than I like Reflections of a Floating World, but that's not really the point here.  Just six songs, but checking in at an hour and five minutes in length, this album is a monster of stoner rock psych.  My friend described these two albums combined as "religious experiences."  So, I had to give them a chance, I'm all for communing with the divine whenever possible and getting there however possible.  Well, Elder wasn't quite that moving to me, but I dig it, a lot.

90/100

The fourth album I want to tell you about from 2017 is actually more of an EP, The Wizards of Delight - titled The Wizards of Delight.  These guys get it.  Rock and roll is supposed to be mainly about having fun doing what you're doing, making your music, and you can just tell, these guys are having a hell of a good time.  They had a single titled "Time Travel Lady" that was pretty cool back in 2016.  It had a cool sound effect fueled psychedelic freak-out in the middle and was just a lot of fuzzed out fun.  Released on August 14, the self-titled EP features four new songs, in the vain of Dio vocal wise, but Ozzy attitude wise.  "Gypsy," "We Got the Rock 'N' Rollz," "Mountain Woman," and "Shogun Messiah," are all just fun 70s style rockers with fuzzy guitars and some clean vocals delivered in over-the-top style.

85/100

Next, released on March 17, Mothership High Strangeness.  I was first drawn to Mothership when I saw their song on the Jimi Hendrix tribute from Magnet Eye Records, who issued Electric Ladyland (Redux) where Mothership covered "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" in spectacular fashion.   High Strangeness doesn't shy away from the drug references, being a part of the stoner rock culture I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  "Speed Dealer" and "Eternal Trip" are two of their song titles on High Strangeness and whether or not the cover of "Helter Skelter" is a drug reference is debatable, I believe.  But still, good stuff.  Nothing new under the sun, but the album is rock solid stoner rock fare and is one that just struck a chord with me last year and made it into my iPod shuffle.  And what a gorgeous cover, I mean look at those colors.

95/100

Finally we come to one of my favorites on the list, issued forth on December first, so it was a late-comer to the part, ReStoned's Chronoclasm.  One thing that you'll notice different about this record right away is there are no vocals.  Zip, nada, none.  Now, maybe I miss the mark here, and maybe i don't.  But I'm not just hearing 70s rock influences when I listen to this album.  I'm hearing some grunge influences.  Maybe some Smashing Pumpkins, some Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, TAD and the like.  Perhaps I'm calling my shots off target, I don't know.  I believe Re-Stoned are fusing the 70s with the 90s and pushing them through the stoner/psychedelic blender and getting something wholly new and unique on the other side.

So anyway, there you have it.  Six albums from 2017 that I dug the most from the stoner rock scene.  Check back often for more reviews, see what we're listening to around here and get a new Vinyl of the day, or at least every other day, LOL.

Trail's debut album Spaces is a perfect album, period!

100/100

The moment I first saw the cover art for Trail's debut album Spaces while scrolling through the January edition of Doom Charts I knew I had to give this record a spin.  Yes, I'm guilty of the old adage of judging a book, or in this case an album, by its cover.  The cover art looked as if Ralph Steadman was drawing his interpretation of Alice In Wonderland, or at least that was what I took away from it.  It looked amazing!

The first thing I noticed upon actually getting a copy of the album was there were only five songs, but the record had a run time of around 45 minutes.  That intimated to me the fact that these were all extended jams, a definite plus as far as I'm concerned.  The second thing that struck me as kind of odd was how the band, which hails from Darmstadt, Germany, named their songs, more on that upcoming.

The first song, titled simply "No. 2," is intense and builds with swirling, circling guitars, getting right to the action.

          "Start the action, inhale the world, we love the smell of motherfuckin' burning fuel"

Singer Jan Henning Curtze, also one of the band's two guitarists along with Hergen Breitzke, paints a vivid picture of a psychedelic freak out taken on the road.  They even invoke Saint Jimi in one particular passage:

          "Feel the breath, purple haze, we love the smell of motherfuckin' burning weed
          Psychedelic pills gonna blow my mind, fly down south amonst the dunes..."

This song is a call to adventure, a call to action, a call to psychedelic freak out, and Trail is inviting the listener along for the ride.  And they're going to blow your mind.

          "And with its burning wheels, miles and tons of material, we're gonna blow up
          your mind. Nobody knows the fuckin' emission rate."

See?  They they come right out and tell you.

The second tune, titled "No. 8," (are you starting to picking up the theme to the odd titles yet?) begins with a gentle rain storm and then leads in with an easy-going riff, laid back and mellow.  It slowly builds for about about five minutes, leading to a gentle crescendo, then a chiming guitar, rings out,  then the tune layers back in on top.  With about two minutes left in the song, the main riff reasserts itself and draws everything back around to a close nicely with a smooth, clean finish. relaxed and sedate.  Instrumental all the way.  I didn't realize it until it had ended.  While Henning Curtze has a fine enough voice, and could have fronted any number of the 90s grunge acts solidly, I didn't miss his vocals in this track.  The song was that silky without his voice.

The third track, "No. 9," starts with a drum slap and kick and we're off.   Over a minute and half in  the bass of Jan Götze has a groovy little solo that leads the direction of the song as it thumps its way along until about the 3:50 mark, when the tempo slows and the lead guitar settles in for a scintillating, slow crawling jam that satisfies as Götze and drummer Nils Curtze work the bottom end to perfection.  I LOVE this bit.  I just want to sit back with my special mood lighting going and melt into my recliner, if you get my meaning.  The solo actually closes the song out about five minutes later.  Again, a completely instrumental track.

Band photos supplied courtesy of Trail.

A strumming guitar jangle and Götze's smooth bass commence the next song, the 10-plus minute epic "No. 1."  High hats and cymbals ring out, then the bass drum, and it all draws together.  You're four minutes into the song before you even realize it has begun.  By the time the soloing begins the song is almost half over, but that doesn't matter.  Everything this band does is so complex and smooth in execution you just want to sit back and let the tunes wash over you like, dare I compare it to the perfect blowjob, where you just lay back, relax and she does all the work?  Is that too sexist?  Well, that's what this album does to me, it invokes those kinds of feelings.  It stirs those emotions.  It's THAT GOOD.

By the time the final song rolls around, "No. 4," I'm a sloppy mess.  I'm completely up for whatever by this time.  I'm along for any ride Trail wants to take me on.  Surprise, it's another instrumental, the fourth on the album.  Ten minutes and 45 seconds later when the album draws to a close I'm ready for a nap.  This album has taken me, turned me upside down, sideways, inside out, every which way, and I'm glad to have been there.  I've been doing this site since shortly after the death of Lemmy Kilmister in 2015.  I just converted it over to all stoner/doom rock this month, but I've handed out a number of reviews in the past, granted those have been deleted as I switch content, but I've never issued a perfect score before.  This is my first, 100/100.  Trail, Spaces is a perfect album.


Selected from the band's biography:

TRAIL - This bluesy, melancholic and explicit sound is based on fat, unshaved and unwashed guitars, heavy and groovy bases and electrifying drums.  This reminds of the birthplace of grunge, Seattle.  Thereby, the deep desert sound waves forces the audience into other dimensions.  Directly travelling from stage into the eardrum of each individual person.  The music speaks like a trip placed on your tongue.  Oppressively guitar fragments, vibrating basses and still this psychedelic devotion drifts the blues in the dedicated direction of stoner rock.

The quartet exists since 2015 - the main constellation is originated based on different constellations such that every member has professional musical experience collected over the last 15 years.

Best Of Bang to be released on April 20 by Ripple Music

90/100

Often referred to as America's answer to Black Sabbath, Bang is one of the most unsung bands in the history of US hard rock.  Toting the heaviness of Birmingham's finest, Led Zeppelin and the dirty groove of Grand Funk Railroad, Bang released three critically acclaimed albums on Capital Records in the early 70s, inadvertently going on to establish the heavy genre that is now universally known as proto-metal.

Busting out of the turmoil of the post-psychedelic '60s, Bang's 1971 self-titled debut is considered an important forerunner of the early Doom Metal genre with Decibel Magazine once hailing it as a, "landmark album in the badass pantheon of metal," and inducting it in the Decibel Metal Hall of Fame.  Yet as richly deserved as that honour is, Bang were no one-trick pony.  Undoubtedly one of America's heaviest proto-metal bands they also had a strong sense of melodic power, versatility and their song writing skills were second to none.

In the summer of 1971, Frank Ferrara, Tony Diorio and Frankie Gilcken hit the road, driving from their natve Philadelphia area to Florida to try their luck.  While buying rolling papers in a record store, they learned of a Small Faces and Deep Purple  concert nearby in Orlando.  Brazenly, they showed up at the venue and declared they were ready to go on stage.  The concert organizer asked them to set up and play for him and after a handful of songs, the band found themselves opening for Rod Stewart and Small Faces.  Before they knew it, Bang was playing with Bachman Turner

Overdrive, Deep Purple, Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac, Ike and Tina Turner, The Doobie Brothers and even Black Sabbath.  Capital Records signed them and three LPs were subsequently released.

Highly regarded as a cult act by many for years, it's now time for this truly amazing rock band to be enjoyed by a new audience worldwide.  On the heels on the publication of the complete band history book, The Bang Story, Ripple Music is thrilled to announce the first ever Best Of... compilation from this historically heavy and fascinating band.  The Best of Bang, featuring eighteen o the band's best-loved and heaviest songs from their Capital Year, personally curated by Ripple Music and the band themselves.

For all those who've longed to dig into the band's history, there is no better place to start than the Best of Bang.  Available worldwide on double vinyl LP with gorgeous gatefold, featuring rare photos, a cover featuring the original Bang girl and linear notes by esteemed music journalist, Sleezegriner, Best of Bang is also available on digipack CD and all digital music formats.

Best of Bang by Bang is released world by Riplle Music on April 20 2018. Pre-order now at www.ripple-music.com.

Stream and share 'Keep On' by Bang here:
https://soundcloud.com/ripple- music/bang-best-of-bang-11-hum ble


Death Of A Country                                                                                              10:07
No Trespassing                                                                                                      5:10
My Window                                                                                                           4:48
Lions...Christians                                                                                                   3:59
The Queen                                                                                                              5:24
Questions                                                                                                                3:47
Redman                                                                                                                   4:52
Our Home                                                                                                               3:27
Mother                                                                                                                    4:23
Keep On                                                                                                                  3:38
Humble                                                                                                                   4:43
Idealist Realist                                                                                                        4:31
Feel the Hurt                                                                                                           5:19
Windfair                                                                                                                  3:08
Exactly Who I Am                                                                                                  3:39
Don't Need Nobody                                                                                                3:03
Feels Nice                                                                                                               2:58
Slow Down                                                                                                             2:39

Black Heaven is a slice of the divine served up in a suprising fashion by Earthless

90/100

Earthless is known for their fuzzed out, epic long instrumental space jams, which often take up one, even two sides of a record, and live their improvisational skills are legendary so four albums and nearly 15 years into their career I don't think anybody was expecting the curveball the band threw at them when Black Heaven dropped on March 16th.  The entire album is just 40 minutes long.  In the past Earthless has been known to play one song that length.  I mean seriously, the longest jam on Black Heaven checks in at measly 8:51.  Two songs are under six minutes long, and one, the break-neck burner "Volt Rush," is just a paltry 1:53 long.  The rad video featuring skateboard legend Taylor Smith tearing it up on the streets of San Diego at least adds 49 seconds to that time.

But here's the big kick in the pants.  The band known for 20-minute long plus space jam instrumentals, has not only reigned in the length of their songs, there are vocals on two thirds of the tracks on Black Heaven.  That's right, four of the six tunes, have lyrics, and one of the instrumentals is the brief interlude "Volt Rush," meaning MOST of the album has vocals this time around.  The other instrumental is the title track, "Black Heaven."

But do not be dissuaded zone trooper, no do not despair, for all hope is not lost.  Hear me out.

Lets break the album down a track at a time.  First up is "Gifted By the Wind," a classic 70s style rocker in the vain of ZZ Top or maybe the James Gang, with some killer guitar effects.  And the vocals, well, Isaiah Mitchell can carry a tune pretty damn well.  And Earthless fans really shouldn't be surprised at that fact anyway.  Those that purchased the CD version of Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky heard Mitchell sing on the bonus track, a cover of the Groundhogs' "Cherry Red."  Also, Earthless submitted a cover of "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" for Magnet Eye's 2015 Electric Ladyland (Redux) Jimi Hendrix tribute project, so Earthless has produced recordings with vocals in the past.  It just has been an oddity, something the band hasn't focused upon.  Drummer Mario Rubalcaba explained to Nuclear Blast in a recent interview posted on their web site, "we've never tried to focus on writing a few songs with vocals on them."  Well, this time they did, to pretty amazing results.

Track two is "End to End," which comes in with an eerie intro, then the marathon of retro guitars kicks in.  A nice solo brings the whole affair to a satisfying conclusion.  In my mind, this is one of the weak tracks, and it's good.

"Electric Flame" had me feeling the blues, Blue Oyster Cult and Blue Cheer influences that is, but with a distinct desert flavor, possibly because Earthless took this recording to ground zero where such acts as Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age have recorded at Rancho De La Luna studios, Joshua Tree, California, to track.

Side two of the vinyl gives long-time fans a small dose of what they've come to expect from Earthless, about 10 minutes or so worth of uninterrupted instrumental jams in the way of the next two songs, the aforementioned slam, bam thank you ma'am "Volt Rush" and the Zepplin riff fueled title track "Black Heaven."

In the final soulful tune "Sudden End" I swear I believe Mitchell is channeling Joe Walsh, as it brings to mind some of his great vocal tracks, "Rocky Mountain Way," "Take It To the Limit," and "In The City."  It took me a few minutes to figure out who it was Mitchell sounded like, and I wasn't certain of myself when I figured it out even then.

This album shows a great deal of growth and evolution for Earthless, which is a great thing.  If you become stagnant you die, and nobody wants death for this killer band.  We want them making great records for years to come.  This is one of the band's best album's to date. 90/100.

Mindfucker is a thought-provoking piece of mind-fuckery

95/100

This is I Talk To Planets' first album review since declaring we're changing up our format and going full time stoner rock and psychedelic, so I figured we'd better make this a good one.  To that effect we're leading off with a review of the latest release from my favorite active band - Monster Magnet.  I say "active" because my favorite band is Motorhead, which is inactive since the death of founder and leading man Lemmy Kilmister in 2015, promoting Dave Wyndorf and Monster Magnet to the top of my favorites list.  I have loved both bands for years and avidly collected vinyl for each since I rekindled my vinyl passion in 2014.  By the time Lemmy passed just after Christmas a little more than two years ago I had nearly completed my Motorhead and Monster Magnet vinyl collections, needing only a few rare pieces to flesh out each set.  I completed my collection of Mototrhead studio albums during the summer of 2017.  My Monster Magnet collection, however, is my pride and joy.  It contains several rare pieces, while I still search for several other rare items to flesh it out.  I was thrilled to add a red vinyl copy of the latest Monster Magnet release Mindfucker to my vinyl collection recently, and a CD digipack to my growing Magnet CD stack.   But none of that really matters to you guys I'm sure, so I'll shut up about my shit and get to the review already.

Dave Wyndorf promised a throwback to the days when Detroit was music central for the likes of the Stooges, the MC5, Alice Cooper even, and said he wanted to drive his car 100 miles an hour and howl at, well, whatever...  The first single "Mindfucker" dropped and I thought to myself, well, he's on the right track.  The song is a ruse, and a clever one at that.  The Mindfucker Wyndorf is singing about is not some chick that has spurned him, cock-teased him, or jilted him in some way, not a psycho bitch at all.  It's this crazy, fucked-up upside down cuckoo-land world we're living in these days with a reality show president, every one screaming "fake news" and "libtards" at what we traditionally think of as the good guys, cops gunning down innocents and unarmed people in the streets, BREXIT is a reality, and global warming is actually deemed debatable even though the science is rock solid.  Am I on a soap box right now?  Maybe, but I'm just trying to get you into the frame of mind to comprehend Mindfucker the album, "Mindfucker" the song and Mindfucker the concept right now, this is where Dave is coming from and he's pissed off about it, which makes for great music.  The last time Dave was this pissed off we got Powertrip.

The video was a bit of a let down.  I half expected footage of protests from around the world, police clashing with protesters, newscasters in front of tear-gassed scenes, some tanks, our president speaking, but instead we got a green screen band video.  Oh well.

The second single was the old Robert Calvert tune "Ejection" originally performed by Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters in 1974.  I had not heard the original until I sat down to pen this review.  I looked it up and listened to it on YouTube.  I quite enjoyed it.  I think Monster Magnet really did a faithful rendering of the subject matter.  I like both versions.  The original is unique because it has vocal parts where a pilot breaks in over his mic before ejection.  Monster Magnet didn't copy that and I believe that was a smart choice.  Don't make your remake exactly like the original.  The Monster Magnet version has a harder edge, and that I like.  Again, I was disappointed with the video.  We have a poor-man's "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" video.  Shot in front of a green screen, we have the band hurtling through outer space on a disc, whoopee!  A swing and a miss on the video, at least it sounds good.

Then a few days later on Marsh 23rd the album dropped.   Let's take it one track at a time, shall we?

"Rocket Freak."  We jump right in with a standard straight-up rocker, and it's very much what Dave was shooting for in the vain of the Stooges, MC5, etc. but with a touch of Hawkwind in subject matter.  A smoking track, and among my favorites on the record.  "Soul" is up next, riff packed and energetic, but not a stand-out in my mind.  We slide into the sweet title track next, which I've already gone over to some degree.  I'm a huge fan of "Mindfucker," the song, it's well crafted, on target message-wise and a lot of fun.  Bringing Side A to a close is the enigmatic tune that has Dave making a bold declaration - "I'm God"... The song is pared down to the bones, but it still has a classic 70s guitar rock fusion going on and when Dave Wyndorf sings "I'm God," dammit I believe him.  This may be my favorite tune on the record.

Let's flip this sucker over and check out the B side.  First up is the mellowed out "Drowning."  I relate to this song in ways I really don't want to admit.  Many of my Monster Magnet loving friends have messaged me that this is their favorite track and I think it's because they relate to it too.  The guitars swirl in this mellow melodrama, making for another Monster Magnet instant classic.  The Robert Calvert cover fills the next groove on the record and we'll briefly touch on it again.  Love "Ejection."  It's a great rocker, with an amazing solo at the end.  "Want Some."  Not one of Dave's more moving titles, but the song's not bad.  It's not a standout track either.  "Brainwashed," on the other hand, will stick with you, either good or bad.  The first couple times I heard it I couldn't stand it.  But about the third time I heard it, it clicked.  I got the joke.  I was admitted to the club, so to speak.  Dave is having a laugh with this rockabilly jam session with a sense of humor, just listen to the way he delivers the chorus, "I'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED!!!"  It's over the top intentionally.  It's bad acting from the school of William Shatner and it's hilarious.  And, is that Tim Cronin I hear screaming in the background?

On to Side C.  "All Day Midnight."  I LOVE the bass at the onset.  The song settles into a nice groove right from the get-go.  This tune is a breath of fresh air.  Not that the album is filled with gloom and doom, or anything, but this song is kind of refreshing in some way, it's hard to describe, but it's almost an uplifting punk rocker.  The CD (and download) ends with the next track, the six-minute epic "When the Hammer Comes Down."  It's a great closing track, passing judgment on the entire world, and we're all FUCKED!  Stellar!!!  Supernovas! The end of the world, death, gloom and doom, and there's guitars.

BUT WAIT, if you have the vinyl, there's more.

The first bonus track on the vinyl is the quirky "You Can't Be Trusted."  It's a trippy, upbeat little number with a jangly guitar and a killer solo at the finish amongst Dave's howling.  Finally we come to "Utopia."  And isn't that what we're all looking for?  This is far and away the song with the most in common to what Monster Magnet had done on its previous three releases dating back to Last Patrol.  It is the lone psychedelic number on the album and it's refreshing to end the album with a revisit to what Monster Magnet has been doing the past few years with this track, considering how much the rest of the record was in touch with Dave's punk roots.  Initially I thought this song was out of place, but the more I listen to the album as a complete animal I think it serves as the perfect overall closer, even though "When the Hammer Comes Down" was intended to be the closer, I think this bonus track is better suited for the job.

It's not a perfect album, it has a couple of blemishes here and there, but damn it's a hell of a lot of fun and the vinyl has a lovely, thought provoking closer.  95/100