The Bandoliers are from Nashville, Tennessee and play American rock n’ roll. Well, of course they do. Since there’s not much innovation in that statement, I’m gonna go ahead and garnish it, shake it out of its cushy tin can, and tell you what you really ought to know. And that’s this: The Bandoliers’ debut album, Prove Yourself, is a ‘stache attack of stray cat struts and fever dog howls, all fuzzy vox, stomp n’ groove, and Sunday morning hard rock blues. They go whole hog with this first impression by bringing in everything from vibroslap to cowbell to Wurlitzer to trumpet to fill out their dynamite Southern sound, but it’s the heavy-riffed bare business – that’s feet and chest, boy — that drives this one up your lane. Of course, no stars n’ stripes jam is complete without that great missing Black Crowes ballad (“Give Me Shelter”), ivory and slide staple (“The Devil is a Friend of Mine”), and singalong crowd pleaser (title track), so it seems these here Bandoliers have put it all together just right, making Prove Yourself a drunken sunny day hit.
Listen to Prove Yourself by The Bandoliers! Oh, and you can get it for free too, so do it.
I prefer to review albums the year they are released in order not to appear dated, but sometimes albums find their way to me the following calendar year. I respect the effort (and, in some cases, money) bands put into sending me their music for review, so the least I can do is give them some blog time. Here’s a quick run through some music that was released in 2011, because it’s never too late…
Black Rainbows Supermothafuzzalicious!!
HeavyPsychSounds Records
The title of Black Rainbows’ third full-length should be enough to break the handle right off yer crank, but in case you need extra convincing, this is some hot-as-the-sun Italian boogie doom from a power trio who are dwarfed only by the stacks through which they blast this dynamite rock. They sounded a lot like Kyuss on their 2007 debut Twilight in the Desert, but they’ve since molded their raw and green stoner sound into something heavier and bluesier, which means they now stomp and howl like a Small Stone band junked out on stardust and motor oil. Oh yeah.
Shooting Guns Born to Deal in Magic: 1952-1976
Self-Released
Instrumental psych-metal from Canada’s Shooting Guns, whose magic dealin’ dates should give you an indication of where they mined the fuzzy nuggets that fill this black sack ’cause the whole thing sounds like a 60s-fried stomp through a field of bear traps in foggy moonlight. Take the hairy doom of “Dopestrings” and “The Last Great Depression,” the acid drone of “Harmonic Steppenwolf” and “Liberator,” and the weird garage of “Public Taser” and “Stay Awake Forever” and you’ve got a debut full of toxic nocturnal emissions that’ll jangle your mind just right.
Listen to Born to Deal in Magic: 1952-1976 right here!
Re1ikt Reki prabili liod
Vigma/BMA
I don’t know how to pronounce the band’s name, nor do I know the translation to any of the song titles or lyrics, but what I do know about this Belarusian band is that they’ve put out a slew of releases since 2008 and their 2011 effort, Reki prabili liod (which I do happen to know means ‘rivers broke through the ice’), is a daunting and epic blend of post-rock and progressive metal with some folk influences mixed in (like their chilling cover of “Rana na Ivana,” a traditional Belarusian folk song). Reki prabili liod contains all the melodic darkness of a Swallow the Sun without any of the death, which I suppose will remind you of bands like Russian Circles or Red Sparowes. With an Eastern European twist, of course.
Check out the video for the song “Reki pad ildom” here!
Before we’re hit with the new Melvins full-length, Freak Puke, in June, the mega-cult stoner/doom/sludge/grunge/metal band has decided to treat us to a free download of a new five-song EP, The Bulls and the Bees. Free, you say? Yes, and I know how much you want it, so go here and get it. Now, The Bulls and the Bees features the four-man lineup we’ve grown accustomed to in recent years, with Buzz “King Buzzo” Osbourne and Dale Crover being joined by Coady Willis and Jared Warren of Big Business, but that won’t be the case with Freak Puke (that album will see the Melvins as a three-piece again, dubbed Melvins Lite, with Trevor Dunn beside Osbourne and Crover), so if you love the extra sack kick you get from Willis and Warren, be sure to click on that link. With the exception of “A Really Long Wait,” which is about three minutes of ambient seance spook, The Bulls and the Bees is busting with enormous, Buzzo-nutty riffs, whether they be of the massive and groovy (“The War on Wisdom”), punishing and drum-filled (“We Are Doomed”), weird and spacey (“Friends Before Larry”), or psychedelic and fuzzy (“National Hamster”) variety. There’s also plenty of scary but melodic vocals and it all sounds like it’s gonna plunge the Pacific Northwest into the ocean, so basically what we’ve got here is some good ol’ Melvins fare.
Check out the video for “The War on Wisdom” from The Bulls and the Bees!
The Bandoliers
Black Rainbows
Shooting Guns
Re1ikt
