Ah, the public domain. Someday the greedy, soulless, oligarchical bastards who run our lives will take away that most human of notions — that something created and put into a public sphere belongs, after a time, to that sphere more than to its creator — because royalty checks, but while we’ve still got it, it’s nice to see it being put to good use. “Black Dread” is the second DIY video from Fuzz Evil‘s 2016 Battleground Records self-titled debut (review here) to cull its footage from such sources behind a lyric clip that surfaced in Nov. for “Killing the Sun” (posted here), and it uses creative editing to give a psychedelic impression from old educational cartoons filled with gloriously outdated science about atoms, space and the threat of nuclear annihilation. My mother tells stories about being told to “duck and cover” if the bomb got dropped. I’d say it was a horrifying time to be alive, but when wasn’t?
Anyhoozle, the song “Black Dread,” the title of which refers to one of Aegon Targaryen’s dragons in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire — Balerion, if you’re wondering — may or may not have anything to do with the structure of atoms or humanity’s thanatos drive, but it was one of my favorite tracks on Fuzz Evil‘s Fuzz Evil, so I’m happy for the chance to revisit it. More laid back than the bulk of the record, which found the trio of guitarist/vocalist Wayne Rudell, bassist Joseph Rudell and drummer Marlin Tuttle (the latter since replaced by Daniel Graves) dug into the crisp execution of sans-frills fuzz rockers like “Good Medicine” and “My Fuzz,” it was both the longest track at nearly seven minutes and the finale of that sub-half-hour outing, leaving the audience with a dreamier impression and perhaps a sign of sonic expansion and progression to come from the Arizona-based three-piece, whose desert vibes were writ large one way or another over each groove and the laid back, unpretentious atmosphere of the record as a whole.
Fuzz Evil, it just so happens, head out this coming weekend on a run to support the self-titled, going alongside Hermano‘s Dandy Brown and his band for shows in the Southern Californian desert and in Phoenix and their hometown of Sierra Vista, AZ. You can find those dates included under the video for “Black Dread” below, which it’s my pleasure to host for your streaming enjoyment.
So please, enjoy:
Fuzz Evil, “Black Dread” official video
Music by: Fuzz Evil Edited by: Joseph Rudell of Fuzz evil
Music written, recorded, and owned by Fuzz Evil All Footage from The archive.org and in the public domain.
Footage from: –“Principles of Electricity” – Published 1945 – Usage Public Domain –“Duck and Cover” by Archer Productions, Inc. – Published 1951 – Usage Public Domain — “Drug Addiction” by Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc. – Published 1951 – Usage Public Domain — “A is for Atom” by Sutherland (John) Productions – Published 1953 – Usage Public Domain
Fuzz Evil live w/ Dandy Brown: Saturday – 4/15 – San Diego, CA – Tower Bar Monday – 4/17 – Riverside, CA Tuesday – 4/18 – Joshua Tree, CA – The Beatnik Lounge Wednesday – 4/19 – Palm Desert, CA – The Red Barn Thursday – 4/20 – Pheonix, AZ – Yucca Tap Room Friday – 4/21 – Sierra Vista, AZ – The Horned Toad
Posted in Features on December 15th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2016 to that, please do.
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Of all the lists I do to wrap up or start any given year, this is the hardest. As someone obviously more concerned with first impressions than I am and thus probably better-dressed once said, you only get one chance at them. For bands, that can be a vicious bite in the ass on multiple levels.
To wit, you put out a great debut, fine, but there’s a whole segment of your listeners who’re bound to think you’ll never live up to it again. You put out a meh debut, you sell yourself short. Or maybe your debut is awesome but doesn’t really represent where you want to be as a band, so it’s a really good first impression, but a mistaken one. There are so many things that can go wrong or go right with any LP, but with debuts, the stakes are that much higher because it’s the only time you’ll get the chance to engage your audience for the first time. That matters.
And when it comes to putting together a list of the best debuts of the year, how does one begin to judge? True, some of these acts have done EPs and singles and splits and things like that before, and that’s at least something to go on, but can one really be expected to measure an act’s potential based on a single collection of songs? Is that fair to anyone involved? Or on the other side, is it even possible to take a debut entirely on its own merits, without any consideration for where it might lead the band in question going forward? I know that’s not something I’ve ever been able to do, certainly. Or particularly interested in doing. I like context.
Still, one presses on. I guess the point is that, like picking any kind of prospects, some will pan out and some won’t. I’ve done this for enough years now that I’ve seen groups flame or fade out while others have risen to new heights with each subsequent release. It’s always a mix. But at the same time, it’s important to step back and say that, as of today, this is where it’s at.
And so it is:
The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Debut Albums of 2016
1. King Buffalo, Orion
2. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree
3. Heavy Temple, Chassit
4. Holy Grove, Holy Grove
5. Worshipper, Shadow Hymns
6. Vokonis, Olde One Ascending
7. Wretch, Wretch
8. Year of the Cobra, In the Shadows Below
9. BigPig, Grande Puerco
10. Fuzz Evil, Fuzz Evil
11. Bright Curse, Before the Shore
12. Conclave, Sins of the Elders
13. Pale Grey Lore, Pale Grey Lore
14. High Fighter, Scars and Crosses
15. Spirit Adrift, Chained to Oblivion
16. Bellringer, Jettison
17. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Is Satan Real?
18. Merchant, Suzerain
19. Beastmaker, Lusus Naturae
20. King Dead, Woe and Judgment
Honorable Mention
There are many. First, the self-titled from Pooty Owldom, which had so much weirdo charm it made my head want to explode. And Iron Man frontman Dee Calhoun‘s acoustic solo record was technically a debut. And Atala‘s record. And Horehound. And Mother Mooch. And Domkraft. And Spaceslug. And Graves at Sea? Shit. More than a decade after their demo, they finally put out a debut album. And Second Grave‘s full-length would turn out to be their swansong, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the thing. There were a lot of records to consider in putting this list together. As always, it could’ve been a much longer list.
For example, here are 20 more: Swan Valley Heights, Arctic, Blues Funeral, Teacher, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Nonsun, Duel, Banquet, Floodlore, Mindkult‘s EP, Mountain Dust, Red Lama, Red Wizard, Limestone Whale, Dunbarrow, Comacozer, Sinister Haze, Pants Exploder, Akasava, Katla and No Man’s Valley. That’s not even the end of it. I could go on.
Notes
It was a fight to the finish. There’s always one, and as late as yesterday I could be found kicking back and forth between King Buffalo and Elephant Tree in the top spot. What was it that finally put King Buffalo‘s Orion over Elephant Tree‘s self-titled? I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow and the answer might be completely different.
They had a lot in common. Not necessarily in terms of style — King Buffalo basked in spacious Americana-infused heavy psych jams while Elephant Tree proffered more earthbound riffing and melodies — but each executed memorable songs across its span in a way that would be unfair to ask of a debut. The potential for what both bands can turn into down the line played a part in the picks, but something else they share between them is that the quality of the work they’re doing now warrants the top spots. Orion and Elephant Tree were great albums, not just great first albums.
From there, we see a wide swath of next-generation encouragement for the future of heavy rock, whether it’s coming from Sweden’s Vokonis or Philadelphia’s Heavy Temple, or London’s Bright Curse, or Los Angeles duo BigPig. The latter act’s punkish fuzz definitely benefited from guitarist/vocalist Dino von Lalli‘s experience playing in Fatso Jetson, but one hopes that as the years go on his own multifaceted songwriting style will continue to grow as well.
A few offerings weren’t necessarily unexpected but still lived up to the anticipation. High Fighter‘s EP prefaced their aggro sludgecore well. Ditto that for the grueling death-sludge of Massachusetts natives Conclave. The aforementioned Bright Curse, Merchant, Fuzz Evil, Atala, Bellringer, Holy Grove, Wretch and Worshipper all had offerings of one sort or another prior to their full-length debuts — in the case of Bellringer, it was just a series of videos, while Wretch had the entire The Gates of Slumber catalog to fall back on — but each of those albums offered surprises nonetheless.
It would’ve been hard not to be taken by the songwriting on display from the likes of Holy Grove, Year of the Cobra, Pale Grey Lore and Beastmaker, who between them covered a pretty broad variety of atmosphere but found ways to deliver high-quality crafted material in that. Those albums were a pleasure to hear. Put Boston’s Worshipper in that category as well, though they were just as much a standout from the pack in terms of their performance as what they were performing. Speaking of performance, the lush melodies from Church of the Cosmic Skull and classic progressive flourish were enough to make me a believer. Simply gorgeous. And one-man outfit Spirit Adrift shined, if in that matte-black doom kind of way, on an encouraging collection of modern melancholic heavy that seemed to hint at sprawl to come.
As we get down to the bottom of the list we find Pennsylvania ambient heavy post-rockers King Dead. Their Woe and Judgment was released digitally last year (2015) but the LP came out earlier this year, so I wasn’t quite sure where to place them ultimately. I know they got some mention on the 2015 lists somewhere, but while they’re an act who’ve flown under a lot of people’s radar as yet, I have good feelings about how they might continue to dig into their sound and the balance of bleakness and psychedelic color they bring to their material. They’re slated for a follow-up in 2017, so this won’t be the last list on which they appear in the next few weeks.
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Like I said at the outset, putting out a debut album is a special moment for any band. Not everyone gets to that point and not everyone gets beyond it, so while a list like this is inherently bound to have some element of speculation, it’s still a worthy endeavor to celebrate the accomplishments of those who hit that crucial moment in their creative development. Hopefully these acts continue to grow, flourish, and build on what they’ve thus far been able to realize sonically. That’s the ideal.
And before I go, once again, let me reinforce the notion that I recognize this is just a fraction of the whole. I’d like it to be the start of a conversation. If there was a debut album that kicked your ass this year and you don’t see it here, please drop a note in the comments below. I’m sure I’ll be adding more honorable mentions and whatnot over the next couple days, so if you see glaring omissions, let’s have ’em.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 2nd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
A righteous hook is never a bad place to start, and Arizona heavy rock trio Fuzz Evil certainly have that working in their favor as they begin a new series of lyric videos from their self-titled debut (review here). My understanding is that it’s their intent to create a clip to coincide with each of the six tracks on the album, which came out on Battleground Records at the end of September, and they begin with the catchy and uptempo “Killing the Sun.” Among the cuts surrounding, it’s one of the more purely desert rock in theme and execution, and it finds the Sierra Vista three-piece neck-deep in the classic-style chemistry shared between the lineup of guitarist/vocalist Wayne Rudell, bassist Joey Rudell and drummer Marlin Tuttle, since replaced by Daniel Graves.
Joey Rudell took on the responsibility for putting together the lyric video himself, snagging an awesome public domain space cartoon from archive.org and setting the text to it with some creative, rhythmic editing and a retro font to keep the look consistent. The Rudells have shown a genuine DIY streak over the last couple years, in Fuzz Evil and their other outfit, Powered Wig Machine, as well as in their helming the Borderland Fuzz Fiesta festival, so to find them diving into a task of promoting their first Fuzz Evil album with what will (theoretically at this point; sometimes plans change) basically result in a video for each track seems about consistent to their general operating modus. If you haven’t yet been introduced to the LP, the clip is a charming means of accomplishing that, and if nothing else, think of it as an excuse to pay another visit to a cool track from the record. Not that you really need one, but still.
Credits and links follow the video below.
Enjoy:
Fuzz Evil, “Killing the Sun” lyric video
Credits: Song From: Fuzz Evil 2016 release “Fuzz Evil” Written, and owned by Fuzz Evil
Footage: “from Destination Earth” Downloaded from https://archive.org/ by Sutherland (John) Productions Published 1956 Usage Public Domain Sponsor American Petroleum Institute Audio/Visual Sd, C
[Click play above to stream Fuzz Evil’s self-titled debut in its entirety. Album is out today, Sept. 30, on Battleground Records.]
If Arizona trio Fuzz Evil‘s debut album feels like it’s been a long time coming, it hasn’t. The band based in Sierra Vista — near Mexico, but I don’t know if it qualifies as a “border town” — only formed in 2014, and it’s much to the credit of the impression they’ve made thus far that their first full-length hits with such a measure of anticipation.
Released on Battleground Records, Fuzz Evil‘s Fuzz Evil follows behind two prior short outings: a late-2014 split with Chiefs (review here) that marked their first release, and a single, “Born of Iron” (streamed here), that hit in the middle of last year. Both of those showed considerable promise on the part of the band in pushing forth unpretentious desert-minded heavy rock, straightforward in construction and based around an easy flowing songwriting process putting the brotherly pair of guitarist/vocalist Wayne Rudell and bassist Joey Rudell — also both of Powered Wig Machine and organizers of the Borderland Fuzz Fiesta — at the fore in tone and presentation.
Fuzz Evil, the album, marks the farewell of drummer Marlin Tuttle, who has since been replaced by Daniel Graves (also Powered Wig Machine), and the band’s original lineup goes out much the way it came in: on a foundation of quality songs incorporating influences without being overly indebted to them.
I don’t think they’re the kind of band looking to set the world on fire, but the spirit behind the material across the manageable six-track/29-minute span here is genuine, and for as little as Fuzz Evil ask in indulgences of the listener — maybe a couple jammy minutes at the end of closer “Black Dread”; still not much in the grander scheme of existence — what they deliver far outweighs. Six-string wizard Arthur Seay of House of Broken Promises and Unida puts in a guest spot on lead guitar for opener “Good Medicine,” but even his blazing fret work becomes another part of the total impression the band makes, as does the later organ work of Brian Gold, who also recorded, mixed and mastered the collection at Primrose Studio.
One might say the same of the production itself, since from the sound of the crash-in cymbals of “Good Medicine,” Fuzz Evil have a rawness of sound that persists even as they expand outward from the album’s first four tracks into the longer and jammier final two. By the time “Good Medicine” has seen fit to give way to the subsequent “My Fuzz” — some charming self-awareness paired with a strutting riff — it’s even harder to ignore in light of the band’s name how much Rudell‘s guitar tone actually has in common with old Celtic Frost or even circa-1984 Saint Vitus in its bite, playing to both the “fuzz” and the “evil.”
Whether that’s on purpose or not, I wouldn’t speculate, but as “My Fuzz” proffers one of the record’s best hooks, it adds depth to the proceedings overall, and speaks at very least to the band’s ability to evoke a varied response. I could be way off any actual influences, in other words, but “Killing the Sun,” which is more post-Queens of the Stone Age in its construction, has some of that underlying darkness too, bolstered by the fact that the vocals are pushed down in the mix under the guitar and bass.
Remembering this is Fuzz Evil‘s first album, and that it’s short, the momentum the Rudells and Tuttle build across the first four tracks is all the more impressive for its flow from one to the next, “My Fuzz” collapsing into the start of “Killing the Sun,” or “Bring Them Through” picking up on the beat from there with a more forward melody in its hook and a mid-paced tempo that does well in setting up the expansion that begins with “Odin Has Fallen” and continues into closer “Black Dread,” the latter also the longest song on Fuzz Evil at just over seven minutes.
Not that Fuzz Evil are going completely off the rails or anything — they keep a consistent sense of craftsmanship — but they space out some wah on “Odin Has Fallen” and in the second half of the track, Wayne drawls out his vocals in a way that reminds of Electric Wizard‘s Jus Oborn, albeit in a much different context. That track finishes with a crash and organ at the beginning of “Black Dread” immediately provides a signal that the palette has expanded.
The aforementioned prior single “Born of Iron” demonstrated a jammier side of Fuzz Evil‘s style, and with its fluid lead work, effects flourish, keys, and languid rhythmic motion, “Black Dread” seems to be building on similar impulses. By its midsection, it’s conjuring howling psychedelia and is locked into the instrumental jam that will carry through its remaining three minutes, each member of the trio playing their part in a final exhibition of the chemistry they’ve established to this point.
Like most of the record before it, “Black Dread” is smooth and will be accessible for the already converted, but the manner in which it adds to the earlier and more straight-ahead material isn’t to be understated. Especially for a debut, it’s a pivotal turn, and one well made. With a few surprises in its overall sound, roughness, songwriting and front-to-back push, Fuzz Evil‘s first expands on the work they have done in setting it up through their singles and sets in motion a creative progression that could continue in any number of directions. It’s reassuring to hear a relatively new band with such a clear idea of who and what they want to be.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 12th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
I’m an easy sell on the prospect of Fuzz Evil‘s debut album. Having been lucky enough to see the trio in their native Arizona this past February, I’ll say they left zero doubt they were up to the task of their first full-length, and the newly-streaming “Killing the Sun” from their upcoming self-titled would seem to back that opinion thoroughly. They’ve got a couple choice guests involved as well — anytime Arthur Seay shows up, it’s a party — and Fuzz Evil‘s Fuzz Evil will be out via respected purveyor Battleground Records on Sept. 30.
If you’ve been paying attention or have seen the new release calendar on the forum, you already know that Sept. 30 is arguably the most crowded release date of the year. No coincidence as it’s when print mags will be starting to get their year-end lists in for consideration. Nonetheless, Fuzz Evil boldly throw their hat in the ring with Brant Bjork, Truckfighters, Alcest, Holy Serpent and Langfinger, as well as probably six or seven others still to come. I look forward to hearing what they’ve come up with for the album as a whole.
West Coast tour dates and the album announcement, from the PR wire:
FUZZ EVIL to release debut album on Battleground Records | Embark on US West Coast Tour this October
Fuzz Evil is released on 30th September 2016
Formed in Arizona’s Sierra Vista in 2014, Fuzz Evil is a riff propelled power trio founded by brothers Wayne and Joseph Rudell of heavy desert stoners Powered Wig Machine.
With two singles currently to their name – last year’s ‘Born Of Iron’ and 2014’s 7” split with fellow Arizonans, Chiefs – this September sees the official release of their self-titled debut on the Washington-based label Battleground Records.
Joined by newest member and fellow Powered Wig Machinist Daniel Graves on drums, Fuzz Evil serves up a thunderous blast of rock ‘n’ roll reverie indebted to the likes of MC5, The Stooges, Clutch and Black Sabbath. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Primrose Studio by Brian Gold, from the opening crunch of ‘Good Medicine’ (featuring Unida/House Of Broken Promises’ Arthur Seay) to the progressively harbingered ‘Black Dread’, the album flows like the diaries of a cosmic nomad. Swirling and psychedelically enhanced with storylines spun from the mind’s eye of vocalist Wayne Rudell and his obsession with comic books, science fiction and cult cinema.
Fuzz Evil also embark on US West Coast Tour this October in support of the new album, which will receive an official release on 30th September via Battleground Records. For the full list of dates take a look below.
Fuzz Evil: Wayne Rudell – Vocals/Guitar Joseph Rudell – Bass Guitar Daniel Graves – Drums
Arthur Seay (House Of Broken Promises/Unida) – Lead Guitar on ‘Good Medicine’ Marlin Tuttle – Drums Brian Gold – Keys
Fuzz Evil Live: 1/10 – Silver Dollar Saloon – El Monte, CA 2/10 – Golden Bull – Oakland, CA 3/10 – TBC – San Jose, CA 4/10 – Starlite Lounge – Sacremento, CA 6/10 – Kenton Club – Portland, OR 7/10 – Valley’s – Tacoma, WA 8/10 – Tim’s – Seattle, WA 9/10 – Sam Bonds – Eugene, OR
Artist: Fuzz Evil Title: Fuzz Evil Release Date: 30th September 2016 Label: Battleground Records Formats: Vinyl/CD/Digital All songs written by Fuzz Evil Recorded/Mixed/Mastered by Brian Gold at Primrose Studio, Sierra Vista, Arizona
