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!
The Hip Priests Full Tilt Bullshit
No Balls Records/Ghost Highway Records
The rock n’ roll manifesto as translated by The Hip Priests is clearly defined by Full Tilt Bullshit‘s opening saliva-covered salvo: “Sonic Reproducer”. Pretty simple, really. While they may not necessarily be young, they are awfully loud and exceptionally snotty, and it’s been years since the UK band last jammed up my radar with their super lubed hot rock action. The frothy fun of 2006′s Number of the Priests EP and 2007′s full-length Tight ‘N’ Exciting had all but fizzled out in my mind when I caught wind of a 2011 split with Electric Frankenstein, and just like that the boys were back. It was like the ghosts of Stiv Bators and Fred “Sonic” Smith were smiling down on me, and now there’s even a new full-length album of garage punk madness to get all revved up about. Bruising bastards born to lose and booze, The Hip Priests busted out of the demise of The Divine Brown and the X-Rays with a mission to mash the spit-saw energy of bands like The Stooges, Dead Boys, The Dictators, Gluecifer, Turbonegro, and The Hellacopters into a greasy gush of over-sexed, electric awesomeness. Despite the time that’s passed, and the fact that during the album’s recording the band split with their singer and the studio lost the entire album (the band obviously got themselves a new singer and re-recorded the whole damn thing), The Hip Priests are still a fully functional rock n’ roll hard-on that has come to fuck and get fucked up, and Full Tilt Bullshit charges its way through a singular vision of masturbation (“Wrist Action”), ejaculation (“DNA Dynamo”), provocation (“Loud ‘n’ Lewd”), and titillation (“Outta My Head [Into Your Pants]“) like a bull in a knickers shop. Only for the cheap n’ loose among us, this one.
Check out the video for “Sonic Reproducer” from Full Tilt Bullshit!
Members of Dozer, Demon Cleaner, Truckfighters, and Lowrider have all posed for Greenleaf’s promo shots at one point or another during the band’s spotty 12 year career, which makes ‘em a catch and release program for some of Sweden’s stoner elite, but you might just call this current incarnation Dozer 2.0 with Truckfighters’ Oskar Cedermalm on vocals instead of Fredrik Nordin (although he does make a guest appearance, as does Per Wiberg of ex-Opeth and Spiritual Beggars and Peder Bergstrand of ex-Lowrider and I are Droid). But hey, if Dozer ain’t in the bullying business anymore, I’ll gladly be pushed around by its bloozier brother, Greenleaf, and they certainly haven’t forgotten how to shove a roach-stained finger into your chest since not having released anything since 2007′s Agents of Ahriman. But that’s the great thing about Greenleaf; they can disappear for a spell — like they did between 2003′s Secret Alphabets and Agents of Ahriman — and come back sounding as tight as ever, and Nest of Vipers is packed just so, with all the movement and danger of its namesake. Greenleaf have always sounded like they’re plugged into mile-long coiled guitar cables in the only desert that exists in Scandinavia, kicking up smoky riffs and fuzzy groove, which they do here in bold fashion (“Jack Staff,” “Lilith,” “Dreamcatcher”), but the thing that has always set ‘em apart and given ‘em that royal, powerful edge is their ability to incorporate that other Swedish rock n’ roll force into their tunes: pure swank. It’s casually slight, but there’s enough garage rock vibe on songs like “Case of Fidelity” and “Sunken Ships” to shake things up just right, and when you add the cosmic prog of “Tree of Life” and the organ-fried “Nest of Vipers (A Multitude of Sins),” you’ve got one well-versed and exceptionally executed trove of heavy venom.
Black Rainbows
Shooting Guns
Re1ikt
The Hip Priests
Greenleaf