Lisbon, Portugal’s Miss Lava are the kind of stoner rock band that could only survive in Europe. They ooze with a blatant and un-contradictory stoner rock commercialism that’s completely antithetical to the American scene, and like a lot of European bands of their ilk – Spiritual Beggars comes to mind as a primary comparison point – they make it work. They play dirty, sweaty rock and roll, but they do it with clean, crisp production and tight pop songwriting. When US bands try this stuff, it either doesn’t work or turns into douche rock, which isn’t good for anyone involved.

On Miss Lava’s full-length debut, the perhaps referentially-titled Blues for the Dangerous Miles (Raging Planet), the four-piece present 11 tracks mostly in the three and a half to five minute range, centered around solid structures of verses, choruses and so forth. The riffing of guitarist K. Raffah is central to the songs, but I wouldn’t call Blues for the Dangerous Miles guitar-led. Bassist Samuel Rebelo, drummer J. Garcia and vocalist Johnny Lee know where they’re supposed to be at any given time, so it’s not like the guitars need to start the song and everyone picks up from there. Miss Lava are tighter than that. They’ve worked out those kinks.

Most of the recording was done by Rebelo, or at least involved him in some way (apart from the vocals), and Miss Lava sent the record to metal titan Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon Amarth, Katatonia, etc.) at Fascination Street Studios for mixing and mastering. You can hear some of that modern metal sheen in Raffah’s guitar on cuts like “Blind Dog” or the opener “Don’t Tell a Soul,” but in the context of the band’s approach, it works. Ditto for Lee’s vocals, which make tracks like “Shine On” and the slower “The Wait” highlights of Blues for the Dangerous Miles, but would probably be grating in another band situation. In Miss Lava, they seem to swagger just right; their multiple-layer arrangements only adding to the pop sensibilities of the band.

To clarify, I don’t mean “pop” in the American sense, because in the American sense, this isn’t pop, it’s structured rock. Pop in America is Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Pop in America is Saliva. If Miss Lava were to come to the States, they’d be as underground as Darkthrone (well… maybe not that underground, but you know what I mean). It’s European pop, which doesn’t seem to have the same fear of rocking out, that has embraced heavy music on a more mainstream level, that I’m talking about. I’m sure these dudes kick ass at festivals.

Blues for the Dangerous Miles isn’t without its hiccups. I skip second-to-last track “Birth, Copulation and Death” every time because of the added female backing vocals that just don’t do it for me at all, and some of the songs are definitely more memorable than others, but by and large, Miss Lava’s formula reveals itself to be a working one, and Blues for the Dangerous Miles is pulled off with authority and confidence belying the band’s tenure as a unit. It’s European stoner metal of the sort that couldn’t be from anywhere else, and even with its creampie of an album cover, has plenty to offer discerning listeners both on and off the continent. If you’re in the States, I’d say check out the MySpace before you commit to buy, but Miss Lava easily earn at least that much time with their first album.

Miss Lava on MySpace

Raging Planet

Tags: Lisbon, Miss Lava, Portugal, Raging Planet

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 9:14 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.