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The Obelisk Radio Add of the Week: Blue Snaggletooth, Dimension Thule

Posted in Radio on August 7th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Somebody in Blue Snaggletooth collects Star Wars merchandise — or at very least has a firm appreciation for the absurd. The Ann Arbor, Michigan, four-piece take their name from a rare 1978 mailorder-only action figure, and between that, their touting themselves as “D&D rock” and songs like “Swords of Atlantis” (a Conan reference), “Sector 7” (given its dreamy psychedelic sprawl, I’m more inclined to think it’s based on the Korean sci-fi flick rather than the Transformers comic book series),  “Fireball Island” (anyone else remember that game?) and “Death of the Time Lords” (Doctor Who) if there’s geek cred left to be proven, I have no idea where.

And sure enough, the title of their 2011 debut, Dimension Thule, is a D&D reference — Thule is a Greater Deity whose symbol is a burning hammer made of ice — but even if you were to listen to Blue Snaggletooth without the internet’s (or your own) decades-spanning compendium of human nerdery at your disposal, Dimension Thule offers plenty to followers of the riff, whether it’s the brash classic metal that opens and closes with “Swords of Atlantis” and “Fireball Island,” respectively, the stoner rock garage fantasy storytelling of “Zweihänder” (a German two-hand sword), or the ’70s shuffle of “Star Flight,” on which guitarists Chris “Box” Taylor (also vocals) and Jess Willyard (also backing vocals) duke it out at a mid-paced boogie that steps away from some of the metallism of the other songs in favor of a more classic heavy. You don’t have to be a geek to groove, is what I’m saying.

What on the vinyl version of the album is side A steps down with each track until the twanging opening of “Insomnia” gives way to grander Southern ideas, but each song also seems to be coming from someplace else stylistically. Usually this leads me to think there are multiple songwriters in the band — and there may well be –but with Taylor, Willyard, bassist Ian Harris and drummer Ian Sugiersky, Blue Snaggletooth still only has four people, and I seriously doubt they hired out for someone to compose the stonerly “Death of the Time Lords” or “Recollection Blues,” which start out side B en route to the spacier instrumental “Sector 7” and the raging drum-solo-and-AA-batteries-included “Fireball Island” finish. Those who know both bands might observe some similarities between Taylor‘s vocals and those of Groan‘s Andreas Mazzereth, but I’m inclined to think it’s coincidence, and in any case, Dimension Thule would’ve come before Groan really began to dip into classic metal on 2012’S The Divine Right of Kings.

Being two years old, it’s way too long since the release for me to give it a full review, but the album has something to offer a variety of listeners, so adding it to The Obelisk Radio was a no-brainer. They’ve reportedly sold out of the vinyl edition of Dimension Thule, but in addition to hearing it on the Radio playlist as of today, you can also check it out and download it through the Blue Snaggletooth Bandcamp, which is also where I grabbed this player:

Blue Snaggletooth, Dimension Thule (2011)

Blue Snaggletooth on Thee Facebooks

Blue Snaggletooth on Bandcamp

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