Researching the QotSA guys reveals they had a project where they went out into the California desert and played for friends via lugged-out generators. Which is rad. They recorded a series of albums that were somehow related to this endeavor, so I checked one out.
The easiest way to describe this is that its a more spare 90's stoner version of Queens of the Stone Age (see Alice in Chains, earlier STP), mixed with Ween. Its the off-kilter energy of the latter (without the nigh unlistenability of most actual Ween songs) that keeps things interesting. The mix is much more varied and open here than on Songs for the Deaf, which is liberating, inspiring the desert setting in some intangible way. And maybe most importantly, it sounds like they're having fun. It passes the "is this a band I'd want to be in" test in a way Songs for the Deaf doesn't.
The first half is fairly straightforward, with some driving riffage to it. The second half is where it gets Ween-ey. First there's the nonsensical Interpretive Reading, which pairs horn runs to nowhere, childrens singing, piano runs to nowhere, and the titular reading. Then its sleazy slow jams, bent folk chants, and a pair of curiously brilliant closing tracks, each of which delivers exactly what its title promises. This falls into the category of being listenable, neat, and glad-I-heard-it-inspiring, without instilling any real need to hear it again any time soon, leaving it at a respectable 3.5/5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment