In the spirit of brevity — or laziness, if you prefer — I’m going to go back to something I wrote awhile ago and give it a face-lift for the sake of this review (if you want to read the original version of this passage, go here):
You know, as far as I’m concerned, if you sound exactly like Black Sabbath you are doing something right, so keep on with yo’ nocturnal self, ’cause Black Sabbath are the pinnacle of doom and metal. Stealing their crooked staff for your midnight stroll through the graveyard of evil is hardly a crime. In fact, it’s a noble thing to do. The truth of the matter is, any band worth their salt will have elements of The Stooges, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, or AC/DC in their music.
Right, so on their debut full-length, Capricorn, San Francisco’s Orchid present us with an album full o’ witchy-riffed psych-blues that, had it been recorded in 1969, would be the subject of the first chapter of all tomes concerning the history of heavy metal. I mean, not only does the music sound like Iommi shit it out himself from atop a moss-covered tower, but the song titles read like a stoned Sabbath freak got a hold of some fridge magnet poetry at a party; dig “Eyes Behind the Wall,” “Black Funeral,” “Masters of it All,” “Cosmonaut of Three,” and “Electric Father” for the most obvious examples. Their 2009 EP, Through the Devil’s Doorway, made a lot of hay, but Capricorn has blown the gates of the void wide open, and is a swirling tempest of dark mastery and cosmic wizardry in spite of the familiar force of its headwinds. Or perhaps because of it.
Check out the video for “Cosmonaut of Three” from Capricorn!
This album, Dixie Witch’s fourth, with its gold chrome letters on crushed black leather, is the simplest, most uncomplicated, and appropriately textured statement the band could make concerning their return after a five year absence. As if anticipating the inevitable question, ‘Well, what are you going to do now?’ they’ve just gone and shrugged and said, ‘Let it roll, motherfucker!’ With all due respect to the Small Stone bands who’ve already released albums this year, and many condolences to the ones yet to come, this here is the Olympic pinnacle, and the trio of long-toothed Texan troublemakers have stormed Zeus’ Godly realm and confiscated his throne. Armed with an arsenal of lightning bolts and cloaked in the kind of invincibility you can only get from a mountain high, Trinidad Leal, Curt “CC” Christenson, and new guitarist Josh “JT” Todd Smith now seem to hold dominion over all things ROCK; their Southern stoner sound, once drenched in the earthly confines of mud and fuzz, has found a magical, heavenly edge. It’s still every bit the beast Smoke & Mirrors is, but they’ve elevated the power and melody to rocket-fueled levels (and left out the ballads), making Let It Roll as much a supreme n’ sizzling cock rock record as it is a boogie n’ blues truck stop tango drenched in AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and Alabama Thunderpussy influences. I suppose Let It Roll has the potential to piss off anyone not enamored with a polished production, but if deliciously dirty dynamics and majestic riffs are your bag, you’re in for one hell of a treat.
Listen, there’s a million bands out there, and you can generally get by without knowing about or hearing 99 per cent of ‘em, but every once in awhile you’ll discover a band who takes complete control of that select one per cent and it’s like the sonic Gods have smiled upon you and showered you with electric riches. There’s no other way to preface the glory that is Glitter Wizard, whose name ranks among the one of the best I’ve come across in years, because their cosmic psych-punk is gonna hit you like one thousand crotch lasers to the face. I mean, just look at that cover — it’s like a Monty Python sketch of AC/DC’s “Jailbreak” video; tell me you don’t want to dive right in and embrace its silly madness? And you might think the songs will come across as shtick-based whimsy, but I’m here to tell you that there’s a real power behind the muddled space rock this San Fransisco band blasts through. In fact, it’s a whole mess of genre-melting goodness, from riff-ripe opener “ABACA” (I would have liked to have heard this song on Red Fang’s new album) to garage pop closer “Summertime,” and all the glam punk (“I Don’t Like You”), flute-filled prog (“Mirror Man”), and organ-fried doom (“Spider” and “Warsawng”) in between, and Solar Hits touches on — and shifts — essential paradigms within the rock n’ roll stratus of today’s thriving throwback culture. And it’s all done in freaky, fuzzed-out fashion, whether a song is two-and-a-half minutes long or seven-and-a-half minutes long, so you’re gonna have one hell of a time with this one. You could throw a whole slew of bands into a blender to get this kind of star-shake, but I think if you include the Science Fiction Idols, Hawkwind, Danava, and Uncle Bad Touch — and maybe some moon rock, acid, and black candles as well — you’ll find the twisted flower power of Glitter Wizard tastes really fuckin’ good.
Stream the entirety of Solar Hits right here! Buy it while you’re there!
Orchid
Dixie Witch
Glitter Wizard