How there wasn’t already a band called Ride the Sun before these San Diego stoner bruisers came along, I’ll never know, but I guess they hit on the right niche name-wise. Guitarist/vocalist Lydell A. seems to have a streak going in that regard, as he was in Countach and Red Desert while living in Minnesota. Given his proclivity toward all things sandy and expansive, I’m sure he’s more at home in San Diego, which may not be Indio, but is sure as shit a lot closer in both climate and proximity than Minneapolis.

You may have heard the name Ride the Sun in association with the Doom in June fest that happened earlier this year (I think it was sometime around April…). The band play a straightforward and heavy style of stoner rock. The desert’s definitely an influence — you can hear no shortage of Kyuss influence in Lydell‘s vocals — but musically they’re more in line with early Fireball Ministry. Big guitar, big bass, big drums. Their self-titled EP is available for previewing on MySpace in suitable preview quality, and though the digital hypercompression makes some of Dominic Caltagirone‘s drum sounds hard to take and Kip Page‘s bass just hard to find, songs like “Livin’ Wrong” and “Compadre” should still give some idea of what Ride the Sun is all about: the rock, by all accounts.

They recently took part in the praiseworthy Cowbells and Cobwebs compilation from Planetfuzz, and their Ride the Sun EP is available now on something called iTunes (never heard of it). As they’ve already played what’s arguably the biggest American stoner fest of the year, I don’t know when we’ll be hearing from Ride the Sun again, but from what I can tell of these five tracks, they’re definitely worth keeping on the radar for the days you’re feeling like something extra-beardly but still accessible.

Tags: California, Ride the Sun, San Diego, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 1:48 pm and is filed under On the Radar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.