Quick Hit: THE ELECTRIC SHAKES - "ELECTROHYPNOSIS"

Europe gives us a TON of great underground rock bands that run the gamut of styles we lump into stoner/doom/psychedelic/desert/retro/blues rock (even the genre lump is sizeable), and the UK is no exception. The trio The Electric Shakes, out of Bournemouth, are another of an impressive group of UK fuzz monsters.

Most trios are set up as one member doing double duty as the vocalist in addition to playing an instrument, but one impressive aspect of The Electric Shakes, in addition to their awesome fucking moniker, is that each brandisher of a musical apparatus performs vocal duties as well. The more vocals the better, whether it's a sharing of song leads, furnishing backup service, or in harmony, and these guys sweep all obligations.

The music they make is infectious, rawking, and fun. It's heavy on the riff and quick on the tempo. The drums are virulent and catchy, engaging head and hips in a dance of infectious rhythm. Monstrous basswork bolsters the heaviness of tracks that otherwise rocket and zoom in gravity defying exhilaration. The guitar brings all the highlights expected of excellence and quality, with a colossal fuzz enclosure punctuated by searing, soaring solos. The songs themselves are melodic masterpieces of amalgamated rock standards with traits of punk, stoner, garage, blues, and 70s era rock. The Electric Shakes' approach to music is a brilliant combination of those great rock sounds of past and present without any direct reflection of one legend over another, which allows them to forge something exciting and new and wholly their own.

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Quick Hit: HEY SATAN - "HEY SATAN"

Trios kick ass much of the time. There's just no getting around it. The Lausanne, Switzerland trio Hey Satan kick ass from a number of angles on their debut eponymous release. To begin with this album RAWKS, and rocks hard. It's meant to be played loudly, and to be enjoyed completely. The music will absolutely flow through you like some dark, demonic doomspell. There are ten tracks on this inaugural LP and not one of them misses a cloven-hoofed step. Each is spellbinding with magical melodic imagination, a feat of epic proportions, and none of them are carbon copies of neither themselves nor of any stoner metal legends, providing ten dark, dewy songs on which to guzzle and savor. The stoner/doom influences are obvious as the gargantuan guitars reign supreme with riffs of deepness and distortion as well as searing, soaring solo runs, but obvious homages are rare as this trio's grand abilities forge their own armored merchandise of dark and hefty metal. Vocals provide a searing focal point with a superb rawness and range brilliantly matched to the music. Overall this is one hell of a debut, a memorable and savage romp that should solidify a place in end of year retrospections.


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Stoner Spotlight: Killer Gandhi

Hailing from that stoner rock n' roll mecca, Oklahoma City, Killer Gandhi recently managed 2 releases in 4 months, between December, 2014 and February, 2015. The initial drop was the self titled, 10 track LP Killer Gandhi soon followed by the 5 track EP Digital Messiah.

Expressing an edgy, scratchy, rocky sound deeply seated in both the 90s grunge and desert sounds, as well as a raw garage hillbilly boogie, these Okie gents crank out some raucous fun. The first album sets the stage nicely with a cool range of sounds in the LP's ten songs, from the opening Roadsaw-like sound of "Nasty Bastard", the haunting, desperate "In the Sun", the heavy, loud, and delightfully funky "Filthy Nickel", and the emotionally deep "All the Time in the World" to pinpoint a few. The vocals are beautifully edgy and raw, never overwhelmed in range or effort, fitting beautifully with the huge, jagged guitar, deep, driving bass, and piercing, pointed drumwork.

The 5 track second album ups the stakes significantly, never backsliding in quality or imagination, and instead grabbing and gripping with tight melodies, tight performances, and an oh so right rock sound jam packed with fuzz, fun, history, and a bit of uncharted territory.  "Laugh Now, Die Later" is a song for the ages, giving us a tune that should make anyone's playlist of favorites. "It's Gonna Break" is reminiscent of great grunge tunes mashed up with huge fuzzy stoner guitars creating a sound of fierceness and joy. The album closes out with the raucous, rollicking rocker "Hostile Takeover"

These 2 albums are quite the treat, seeming to languish in that big pile of wonderful stoner/fuzz sound out in the world, but hopefully, here, they will be able to provide a bit of rock n' fuzz respite from the harshness of horrible news everywhere you turn these days, a treat that can move your soul as it does the corners of you mouth, tickling your fuzz receptors in the process.

Killer Gandhi has mainly consisted of 4 members. On the EP, the latest release, Levi Dickerson deftly manned the drums, Josh Griffin and Steve Macanally shared shredding duties on guitar, and Brad Reed carried the heavy load on bass. In addition to his guitar work, Macanally was front and center with those righteous vocals. Since the release of Digital Messiah the band has been reduced to Macanally and Reed, but that is 50% of the song writing chops and 100% of the matchless and laudable crooning, so there remains huge potential  for future stoner grunge boogie. We can only hope.

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Album Review: Triggerman - "Hail to the River Gods"

Hailing from Derry, Northern Ireland come a hard hitting, rock breaking, sledge hammer of a band that has one goal in mind when cranking out their seven splendid tunes on the new release, “Hail to the River Gods” and that’s to . . . well, to ROCK! Plain and simple. Their music is plain and simple, by design, but not at the expense of any detail for it is overflowing with energy and power, craft and material. The effort is there, in spades. The talent is there, they are a mightily gifted foursome. The skill is there, these guys have put in the time. They have very carefully, and whole-heartedly crafted a collection of tunes that play heavy on the loud, on a central theme of huge guitars, of granite splitting trap set ricochets, of the earthquake rumble of an all out battery of bass riffs, of a front man soliloquy surrounded by the blitzkrieg assault of fully loaded instrumentation, all wrapped up in a party atmosphere carefully crafted from painstaking care in songcraft and delivery.

Triggerman consist of:

Bap on Vocals and Guitar
Niall on Guitar
Rory on Drums
Dixie on Bass

These guys play hard and play well, with a fierceness and a joy that is the hallmark of great rock.

The album is huge, with seven meaty songs that will have you wearing a whiplash collar the following day. They start the album off with “Rage of the Goddess”, calling in all rubes with a promise of heavy riffs and fire inducing solos, slammed into a box of deep bass, and pounded shut with a thousand drumbeats.

“Rise of the Woodsman” is fast and fuzzy, led by huge guitars and Bap’s Carny Bark vocals that drive it all home.

The title track, “Hail to the River Gods” is third, picking up the same huge and heavy sound of its predecessors, this time delivering a gung ho melody of inspiration and adventure.

“Th’on Strange Brew” is tight and fun, a jab, jab, hook type of rhythm that delivers big on sound and enjoyment.

Next up is “The Flower of Life”, following the tried and true formula already established, just a fun and heavy construction of complex guitars and hard hitting drums, wrapped up in a thunder of bass riffage.

Time to deliver even louder, bigger, harder, faster because the outcome of number six is to “Wake the Dead”. Are they successful? Hell Yeah!! This hairy adventure is full of fury and fun.

The closer is a long slow build up of power and angst, building step by step to a huge, compelling climax of what Triggerman deliver best - straight up guitars as big as Hell, hard pounding drums, heavy granite busting bass, and a no frills vocal delivery.

This album is nothing but pure and unadulterated metal, delivering finely crafted rock that is rock as it should be. It is roaring thunder and crashing tidal waves, freight trains rolling across the night desert through a maelstrom of hail and crashing lightning. It is the constant staccato rhythm of big city construction pounding relentlessly away at concrete and steel. It is the spartan assault of 2 guitars, bass, drums, and unique vocal delivery that form the phalanx for a lean and brutal assault on the senses. It is music you can drink whiskey to, music you can pound your fist to, music you can party to, music you can fornicate to, raw and primal, with the pure essence and power of man in peak primordial form.

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