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Halfway to Gone Interview with Lou Gorra: Blues for the King of the World and His Long Lost Soul

Posted in Features on July 27th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Late last Saturday night, New Jersey’s Halfway to Gone stood on the stage of an overheated Brighton Bar and positively destroyed the place. It wasn’t their first time doing so, but this show in particular (review here) will hopefully serve as the beginning of a new era for the band. Not a moment too soon.

It’s been eight long years since Halfway released their third album. Self-titled, it was a fitting culmination of what the trio of bassist/vocalist Lou Gorra, guitarist Lee Gollin, aka Stu, and drummer Danny Gollin had accomplished on their 2001 debut, High Five and its 2002 follow-up, Second Season. More melodically complex, it never quite let go of the Red Bank three-piece’s Southern rock fetish, and tracks like the landmark opening duo “Turnpike” and “Couldn’t Even Find a Fight” became part of the Halfway to Gone canon, no less heralded than, say, “Holiday in Altamont” from the first record or the anthemic “Great American Scumbag” from the second.

But eight years feels like forever. In rock and roll, that might as well be a generation, and despite sporadic appearances here and there, usually at the Brighton, Halfway to Gone‘s legacy seemed set. Like many before them — including Solarized, in which Lou played bass and Stu guitar — and many after, they seemed to be another Jersey heavy rock act who never quite got their due. On June 2, I got a text from Gorra that they were playing, and that Solarized guitarist Jim Hogan and drummer Reg Hogan‘s new band Electrikill would be sharing the bill, that a new album was in the works and they’d be playing new material at the gig. Well, that was all I needed to hear.

Electrikill didn’t wind up on that bill, but Halfway ruled and their triumph played out in heavy distortion and thunderous riffs. Prior to, I’d had the chance to get on the phone with Gorra and talk about some of the practicalities involved in getting Halfway to Gone moving again, writing new material, and what they might look to accomplish this time around with the band. Having already toured the US extensively in their initial run, Gorra was candid about his desire to get over to Europe, and I’m hard pressed to think of ambassadors as fitting for all that’s righteous in American heavy rock.

Complete Q&A with Lou Gorra of Halfway to Gone is after the jump. Thanks for reading.

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Live Review: Halfway to Gone in Jersey, 07.21.12

Posted in Reviews on July 23rd, 2012 by JJ Koczan

There are some bands who seeing them on stage at the Brighton Bar is like seeing an animal in its natural habitat, and Halfway to Gone is one of them. Originally, the newly formed Electrikill was set to open the show, which would’ve provided a good bit of symmetry since Jim and Reg Hogan from that band also founded Solarized, in which Halfway bassist/vocalist Lou Gorra and guitarist Lee Gollin (aka Stu) also played in in Solarized‘s heyday before joining forces with Stu‘s brother, drummer Danny Gollin as the original trio Halfway to Gone. But the semi-reunion wasn’t to be, and when I rolled into a crowded Saturday night in Long Branch, it was Jay Monday and The X-Men on the bill.

Jay Monday was on as I arrived. They’re set sometime soon to record an album with Gorra, also an engineer/producer, and were young. Pulled a young crowd and played young rock and roll. Could’ve been worse. They had a pit going and, well, kids these days. The X-Men, on the other hand, got on stage after a break and immediately proclaimed themselves to be “old fucks,” and held an extra level of interest for featuring as their frontman the owner of the BrightonGreg Macolino, on guitar and vocals. Their energy and sound were both classic punk, with Macolino bouncing up and down while jamming out and proudly proclaiming the band’s 28 years. Apparently it had been 25 since they last played with that bassist.

Impressive in itself, but the night was unquestionably Halfway to Gone‘s. It belonged to them. They’ve played sporadic shows over the last several years — YouTube confirms the last one was November 2010 — mostly at the Brighton, to crowds of friends and loyal supporters. That was pretty much the case this time too, but the difference between Saturday and the last few times I’ve seen Halfway was that this show they proclaimed the coming of a new album. Gorra spoke about it from the stage, and along with raucous standbys like “Great American Scumbag” from 2002’s Second Season and “Holiday in Altamont” from their 2001 full-length debut, High Five — both highlights, make no mistake — there was a yet-untitled new  song that the trio was clearly excited about.

With good reason. That’s their first new material since their 2004 self-titled third album, and while Stu and Danny had played in A Thousand Knives of Fire together in the interim, for Gorra, he was obviously excited about the prospect of picking up Halfway again as the band got going. And the kids loved it. I mean that. Kids. At the stoner rock show. Jay Monday seemed to have a whole crew with them, and they pumped fists, moshed, stage dove (if you can fucking believe that), and had a full-on punk rock brodown while the band played. Cuts like “Turnpike” from the self-titled and “Couldn’t Even Find a Fight” were met with sing-alongs and spilled beer. It was like someone was filming a video, except not staged, and a far cry from the usual “still life with beardos standing” tableau one expects at gigs of this sort.

Halfway fed off it and hit a stride that was palpable. Danny remains a massively underrated drummer, and Stu has enough personality for an entire trio on his own, and together with Lou‘s obviously sincere appreciation for the crowd, the songs and the night as a whole, it was great to watch. The night was getting late, but it didn’t matter. People were practically running in circles while they played, and even a blown bass amp early on did little to derail the momentum. Noodling on Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Sweet Home Alabama” and a few others off classic rock FM, Stu got on mic and announced that he’d never met the bass head that could stand up to Gorra‘s playing. Jay Monday stepped up to provide in that regard and peace spread across the land. By peace, I mean “Never Comin’ Home” off of Second Season. Same difference.

They threw a curve in the form of the slower, moodier “Stormy Day” from the first record, which cut the energy level in the crowd some in the beginning, until a break in the middle in which Gorra teased, “You think the song is over! If you pressed stop on the CD player now, you’d miss one of the best parts of the whole thing,” before introducing Stu by saying he was going to be playing some “heavy metal guitar.” The riff that followed could just as easily have served as the central figure for a metalcore breakdown — and in most bands it probably would — but Halfway to Gone repurposed it into the basis of a killer solo jam, and kept the renewed forward drive going with “Whiskey Train” and “Thee Song” from their 2000 split with Alabama Thunderpussy. When they got off stage, it was to a rousing chorus of shouts for one more song.

Had they played that one more song, I expect they’d probably been in the same situation. Ditto that two songs and so on into the night. It was after 1AM when they finished — the Brighton living up to its reputation for late nights as it had earlier in the week — and the crowd filed out right away to stand in front of the front door of the venue and block passage while blowing smoke in the face of everyone as they walked out, clueless as only frivolous youth can be. I shook a few hands and said a couple goodnights and was back on the Parkway soon enough for the drive north, reminiscing with myself about the many times I’ve made that drive before and the excellent shows — including this one — that routine has followed.

Halfway to Gone never disappoint. Looking forward to that new album and hopefully more nights like this one. Extra pics after the jump.

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Where to Start: The Obelisk’s Guide to Small Stone Records

Posted in Where to Start on May 3rd, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Founded in 1995 by Scott Hamilton, Detroit imprint Small Stone Records is the single most influential American heavy rock label of the post-Man’s Ruin era. What started as Hamilton releasing local Detroit acts of varied genres like Morsel, 36D and Perplexa soon took on a dedication to the heavy aesthetic that remains unmatched in both its scope and its reach of influence. Looking back, Five Horse Johnson‘s 1997 Double Down debut, seems to have been the beginning of Small Stone‘s turn down the fuzzly path. It’s like Hamilton followed the riff right down the rabbit hole and never looked back.

Now, 17 years on, Small Stone has a reach that goes beyond even the distribution of the albums it puts out. Thanks to the diligent work of Hamilton and oft-encountered names like Mad Oak Studios engineer/mixer Benny Grotto, mastering engineer Chris Gooseman, graphic artist Alexander von Wieding, among others, the label has earned a reputation for quality output that new releases are constantly reaffirming. Over the years, Man’s Ruin refugees like Sons of Otis, (The Men Of) Porn, Acid King and VALIS have come into the fold, but the crux of Small Stone‘s catalog is made up of acts like Roadsaw, Dixie Witch, Halfway to Gone, Throttlerod, Puny Human and Novadriver, who no matter what else they put out or who they put it out with, will always be considered “Small Stone bands.”

That designation and those groups specifically have helped establish a core American-style heavy rocking sound that the label seems to delight in toying with even as it continues to promulgate. Next generation bands like Gozu, Lo-Pan, Freedom Hawk, Backwoods Payback and even newer newcomers Wo Fat, Supermachine, Lord Fowl and Mellow Bravo — who don’t yet have albums out on the label — are expanding its breadth, and recent international signees Asteroid, Abrahma, Mangoo, Nightstalker and Mother of God should help ensure that Small Stone keeps pushing both itself and genre boundaries well into the next several years.

One of the hazards, however, of an ever-growing catalog, is that it can be hard to figure out where to start taking it on, and to that end, I’m happy to provide you with 10 essential Small Stone picks. Note I didn’t say “the 10 essential Small Stone picks,” because the reality of the situation is this is just the tip of the fuzzberg. If it’s any indication, I started out with five and couldn’t leave the rest out.

Here they are, ordered by the date of release:

 
1. Novadriver, Void (ss-022/2001)

Still an album that’s more or less impossible to pin to just one genre, the stoner/space/weirdo jams of Novadriver‘s 2001 outing, Void, reside somewhere between Monster Magnet‘s early Hawkwind worship and the unbridled intensity of groove that came out of Detroit’s early- and mid-’70s heavy rock and proto-metal. The fact that Novadriver also came from the Motor City speaks to the label’s local roots, but if Void was coming out even today, it’d be coming out on Small Stone.

2. Los Natas, Corsario Negro (ss-028/2002)

Personally, I think 2005’s El Hombre Montaña is a better album and 2009’s Nuevo Orden de la Libertad is an even better album than that, but Corsario Negro earns the edge as a starting point because it was the beginning of the Argentinian rockers’ relationship with Small Stone (they too were left without a home in the wake of Man’s Ruin folding). Plus, if you haven’t heard them before and you get this, you can still marvel at the subsequent offerings. Either way, totally necessary.

3. Various Artists, Sucking the ’70s (ss-032/2002)

In a lot of ways, this is what it’s all about. Badass bands playing badass songs. By this point, The Glasspack, Los Natas, Fireball Ministry, Halfway to Gone and Five Horse Johnson (who lead off the first disc) had already put out at least one album through Small Stone, but Sucking the ’70s made the most of the label’s burgeoning reputation, bringing in Clutch, Alabama Thunderpussy and Lowrider, along with bands who’d later add records to the catalog like Roadsaw, Suplecs and Lord Sterling, all covering hits and obscurities from the heavy ’70s. A gorgeous collection that would get a sequel in 2006. Still waiting on part three.

4. Dixie Witch, One Bird, Two Stones (ss-037/2003)

The Austin, Texas, trio would go on to become one of the most pivotal acts on the Small Stone roster, and they’d do so on the strength of their Southern riffs and the soul in their songwriting. Led by drummer/vocalist Trinidad Leal, Dixie Witch hooked up with Small Stone on the heels of their 2001 debut, Into the Sun, which was released by Brainticket, and quickly gained a reputation for some of the finest classic road songs that Grand Funk never wrote (see “The Wheel”). Their 2011 offering, Let it Roll, affirmed their statesmen status among their labelmates.

5. Sasquatch, Sasquatch (ss-044/2004)

I was pretty well convinced that when the L.A.-based Sasquatch released their self-titled debut in 2004, rock and roll was saved. Whoever it needed saving from, whatever needed to take place to make that happen, this record did it. Truth is, rock and roll didn’t really need to be saved — it needed a stiff drink, as we all do from time to time — but Sasquatch would’ve been right there even if it had. They’re a Small Stone original with all three of their records to date out through the label, and still one of the strongest acts in the American rock underground, even though they’d never be quite this fuzzy again.

6. Dozer, Through the Eyes of Heathens (ss-061/2005)

Even now, seven years later, I can’t look at this album cover without hearing the chorus to “The Roof, the River, the Revolver.” Between that and songs like “Man of Fire,” “Born a Legend” and “From Fire Fell,” Swedish rockers Dozer made their definitive statement in their label debut (fourth album overall). Another former Man’s Ruin band, they’d already begun to grow past their desert rock roots by the time they hooked up with Hamilton, and Through the Eyes of Heathens played out like what heavy metal should’ve turned into after the commercial atrocities of the late-’90s. A gorgeous record and still a joy to hear.

7. Greenleaf, Agents of Ahriman (ss-074/2007)

It’s like they built nearly every song on here out of undeniable choruses. Even the verses are catchy. I’ve championed Agents of Ahriman since before I started this site, and I feel no less vehement in doing so now than I did then. A side-project of Dozer guitarist Tommi Holappa that on this, their third album, included and featured members of Truckfighters, Lowrider, The Awesome Machine and others, Greenleaf became a distillation of many of the elements that make Swedish heavy rock unique in the world. It wasn’t aping classic rock, it was giving it a rebirth, and every Hammond note was an absolute triumph.

8. Iota, Tales (ss-084/2008)

Once, I had a t-shirt with the cover of Iota‘s Tales on the front. I wore it until it got holes, and then I bought another. That’s the kind of album Tales was. A trio crawled from out of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, Iota took Kyuss, launched them into space, and jammed out for five, 10 or 20 minutes to celebrate the success of the mission. Recently, guitarist/vocalist Joey Toscano has resurfaced in the bluesier, more earthbound Dwellers, which teams him with the rhythm section of SubRosa. Their debut, Good Morning Harakiri, was a highlight of early 2012, building on what Iota was able to accomplish here while pushing in a different direction.

9. Solace, A.D. (ss-093/2010)

It took the better part of a decade for the Jersey-bred metallers to finish what became their Small Stone debut after two full-lengths for MeteorCity, but when it finally dropped, there was no denying A.D.‘s power. My album of the year in 2010, the band delivered front to back on seven years’ worth of promise, and though it was recorded in more studios than I can count over a longer stretch than I think even Solace knows, it became a cohesive, challenging album, giving listeners a kick in the ass even as it handed them their next beer. I still get chills every time I put on “From Below,” and I put it on with near-embarrassing regularity.

10. Lo-Pan, Salvador (ss-116/2011)

If you know this site, this one’s probably a no-brainer pick, but the Columbus, Ohio-based riff merchants took on unabashed stoner rock fuzz for their Small Stone debut (third album overall) and made some of 2011’s most memorable songs in the process. Subversively varied in mood and heavy as hell no matter what they were doing, every part of Lo-Pan‘s Salvador worked. There was no lag. Small Stone also reissued the band’s 2009 outing, Sasquanaut, in 2011, but Salvador surpassed it entirely, bringing the band to new heights of professionalism they’d confirm by touring, well, perpetually. They’re still touring for it. You should go see them and behold the future of fuzz.

That’s the list as much as I could limit it. If you want to immediately add five more, throw in Roadsaw‘s self-titled (they’re writing the best songs of their career right now, I don’t care how attached to the early records you are), Puny Human‘s Universal Freak Out, Halfway to Gone‘s High Five, Milligram‘s This is Class War and Five Horse Johnson‘s Fat Black Pussycat. If you want to semi-immediately add five more than that, get the reissue of Acid King‘s Busse Woods, Mos Generator‘s Songs for Future Gods, The Brought Low‘s Third Record, Tummler‘s Early Man and Erik Larson‘s The Resounding. There. We just doubled the length of the list.

And the real trouble? I could go on. We didn’t even touch on curios like Axehandle, Lord Sterling and Brain Police, or The Might Could‘s Southern aggression, Hackman‘s instrumentalism or the druggy post-grunge of VALIS. Suffice it to say that Small Stone is one of very few labels out there from whom any output will at least be worth a cursory investigation. As the label continues to grow and develop in 2012 and beyond with new bands and new releases from its staple acts, taking on new avenues of commerce — like releasing vinyl for the first time, which it did in 2011 — whatever changes might crop up, Small Stone seems ready to meet the future, distortion pedal first. Can’t ask more of rock than that.

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Where to Start: New Jersey

Posted in Where to Start on January 13th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

If all you know of my beloved Garden State is the smell of the Turnpike, Bruce Springsteen, guido stereotyping and the airport, you’re missing out. From the very beginning of stoner rock, New Jersey was right there making landmark contributions to the genre, and as the most crowded, most densely-populated state in the union, there’s always been a special brand of annoyed attitude that comes out of New Jerseyan bands that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s like the music is calling you out on your bullshit.

Of course I’m talking about the Red Bank scene, which is unquestionably the state’s biggest contribution to the canon of underground rock, but even that’s not the end to New Jersey‘s influence. As a lifelong resident and vehement defender of the state in the face of embarrassing reality shows and the rest of it, I humbly offer this list of NJ bands for anyone looking for a place to start in discovering the scene:

Monster Magnet: They’re quintessential stoner rock. Spine of God from 1992 is one of the most pivotal albums from the genre and if I didn’t mention them and it first, this entire list would be a sham. Tracks like “Zodiac Lung,” “Nod Scene” and “Spine of God” are absolute classics and unparalleled by either psych- or riff-obsessives.

Halfway to Gone: Their sound had no shortage of Southern influence, but the crunch they brought to it couldn’t have come from anywhere but the Northeast. 2002’s Second Season stripped down the songwriting from the first album and showed a meaner side.

The Atomic Bitchwax: Their 1999 self-titled gets a lot of play because it boasted Ed Mundell from Monster Magnet on guitar, but to me, the band really came into their own when Core‘s Finn Ryan replaced Mundell on 2005’s 3. Start with that, or if you’re craving Mundell, its predecessor from 2000, II.

Solace: I know I’ve said a lot about Solace lately, but that proves all the more why they need to be on this list too. Their first two albums, Further (2000) and 13 (2003) are killer, but 2010’s A.D. blows them out of the water. Best thing to come out of Jersey in a long time.

Evoken: Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum from all this guitar rock, Lyndhurst‘s Evoken make some of most grueling, most punishing funeral doom ever. Their earlier work had rough production, so I’d say start with 2007’s A Caress of the Void and work your way back. Slowly, of course.

For further reading: Various side-projects and offshoots of the above. Bands like A Thousand Knives of Fire, Core, Gallery of Mites, and so on. Also worth digging into are Lord Sterling (now defunct), abrasive duo Rukut, the righteous heaviness of Clamfight, A Day of Pigs, The Ominous Order of Filthy Mongrels, and many more.

If I forgot anyone or anyone wants to really go to bat for that first Bitchwax, leave a comment.

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Halfway to Gone Plus ’70s Car Chase Equals Awesome

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 8th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

There’s no denying the power of Halfway to Gone‘s rock. They killed, period. And I guess in the meantime, while their status is up in the air, some crafty YouTuber decided to make this video synching up “Couldn’t Even Find a Fight” from 2004’s apparent swansong self-titled with the original 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds. Checking it out is easily worth pausing whatever porn you were about to watch.

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