Lo-Pan
Salvador
Small Stone

Hot off last year’s remixed and remastered Sasquanaut, Lo-Pan waste very little time dropping a pulsing crate of new songs right on to the collective heads of the Small Stone/stoner rock faithful. That crate, ever heavy and dangerous, is stamped Salvador (go ahead, smile at the cover’s clever rebus), and as best as I can tell was a wartime leftover that once contained a shitload of trinitrotoluene. But like a bunch of fearless jackals, the Ohio quartet have gone and pilfered all that TNT, wrapped it in the blood and crust of last night’s good times, repacked it in atomic dust, and sealed it with a fist. Its demolishing power is off the charts. Its explosive energy knows no limits. Its massive, mind-fuck aplomb is cerebral, not dumb, and the band practically urges us to embrace Salvador‘s surreal shock. I mean, there’s gotta be a reason “Intro” is the sixth song in, right? Anyway, what Lo-Pan does, quite obviously, is destroy, and I’m impressed with their ability to bring Kyuss’ groundbreaking desert rock vibe into the 21st century via soaring, melodic vocals over top of mean, fuzzy, smoky riffs.

Listen to “Bleeding Out” from Salvador!

Chocolate Love Factory
Rat Bag/Texty Texty Single
Self-Released

I applaud DIY, I endorse any kind of underground movement, I herald the unknown, and “Rat Bag” ain’t half bad with its quirky, devil-drivin’ QOTSA desert rock vibe, but this double single loses me when I try to understand its necessity. Each of the songs (including “Ciroadian and Homeostatio Waves” on the B-side) were already released last year (two of them twice) on Take No Hostages (Demos) and Biscuit Music, which can be downloaded for free here and here, respectively. However, I’m happy to give this Irish three-piece the attention, and I understand their need for a “proper” release, but unless they want to find themselves drowning in Semi Precious Weapons territory, which is a desperate, stagnant, and misguided place to be after three releases, they need to do something new, because the potential is there. Oh, and do something about that band name, too.

Listen to “Rat Bag” from the Rat Bag/Texty Texty Single!

Brant Bjork
Gods & Goddesses
Low Desert Punk

The smooth grooves, the electric cool, the easy beats, the hippie desert flow; it all comes pouring out of the eight songs on Gods & Goddesses like you would expect them to, all laid back and heavy, but goodness gracious, child, this isn’t your same ol’ Brant Bjork. Our main man, the undisputed leader of revolution rock, the ganja guru, is strolling above the clouds now, calling the shots from a beautiful oasis in the sky. The dusty green vibes usually found on his albums have been replaced here with a spatial island soul, and when the needle drops and opener “Dirty Bird” kicks in, you might fail to recognize Bjork’s signature dope tongue at first, but rest assured the bandanna essence is always there. It just sounds — if I dare say — more God-like. Of course, it might be that the new band of bros behind him (featuring bassist Billy Cordell of Yawning Man) have released a new coconuts n’ Cadillac attitude in him, but chances are Bjork just felt like expanding his mind one more time. After all, Bjork is a master at taking us to amazing, far away places with his blown brand of no fuss rock n’ roll. This record, while it might stray from the beaten path, is certainly no exception.

Listen to “The Future Rock (We Got It)” from Gods & Goddesses!