Whatever else Satellite Beaver’s second self-released EP accomplishes stylistically – and it accomplishes plenty – it shows that the Warsaw rockers are not quite as simple as they first appeared. Their debut was 2009’s Trip Outside Your Mind, a fitting entry into Poland’s burgeoning stoner scene, clearly the work of an act just getting their bearings creatively, but not by any means an uneasy listen for the converted. If anything Satellite Beaver’s show of influences on that collection set them on the right track going in to the follow-up, which I assumed would take the form of a full-length refining their sound along roughly the same creative lines. The Last Bow – somewhat foreboding in its title, though the band gives no indication they’re about to call it quits – arrives three years later and in a mere 18 minutes manages to contradict almost every expectation one might put on it while still also being a rock record. Its four songs, “Pershing,” “Urania,” “Way Before” and “Roadtrip” all stay within the four-to-five-minute range, but the sound is much fuller and more established than was Trip Outside Your Mind (review here), and Satellite Beaver sound almost too serious for their name. The guitars of Szymon (also vocals) and Tomek chug with metallic compression to match their semi-fuzzed tonality, and the whole affair has a somewhat darker, less upbeat vibe. It works for the band, but as drummer Robert works in near-blasts to the second half of “Pershing” amid a riff that’s whittled down out of the distortion blocks of Kyuss and Goatsnake as filtered through European capital ‘h’ Heavy, it’s easy to be caught off guard by the jump in aesthetic if you heard the first EP. If you didn’t hear Trip Outside Your Mind, then it’s probably not even a consideration, as The Last Bow could be seen as just as much a debut as its predecessor, for both its energy and for the potential it shows for what the band might do next.

Doubtless they’ll get around to doing an LP sooner or later – if their current listed lineup info is accurate, they’ll need a new bassist first – but in the meantime, The Last Bow justifies its delay in the move away from the band’s prior groove-based simplicity. That’s not to criticize the band for needing to work faster or put out more material – different groups work at different paces and that’s part of the fun – but it’s been three years since Trip Outside Your Mind, and to come out of it with 18 minutes of music is probably less productive than Satellite Beaver would ideally like to be. Or maybe they don’t give a shit. I won’t speculate. What matters is the progression shown in these songs, whether its “Pershing”’s metallic taste or the slower, grungy feel in the slower “Urania.” Szymon’s vocals have a kind of lower-mouth sound to them, derived from the post Alice in Chains school of band-fronting, but reverbed as they are on “Urania” and set back in the mix amid Robert’s snare march, one is more reminded of Marilyn Manson than Layne Staley. Still, his layering is effective, and when Robert lands heavy on the toms, the rush of air is palpable through the speakers. For a band without a bassist, Satellite Beaver have an awful lot of low end working for them. The central riff of “Urania” is pretty standard stoner rock fare, and that’s clearly on purpose, but the band’s presentation of it is what makes the song stand out both on the EP and in the genre in general. They’re not aligning themselves to the desert, or to outer space, or to the ocean or wherever else riffs come from ecologically. They’re aligning themselves to themselves, and that process is exciting to hear.

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In terms of establishing charm in the eyes of a stoner rock loyalist, covering Lowrider goes a long way, and on their recorded-live debut, Polish trio Tres Perros not only take on “Caravan,” which opened Lowrider‘s 1999 riff-led epic, Ode to Io, but they make it the only song in their entire set with vocals. True, the singing is a little rough, so maybe that’s part of it, but you have to admire the effort, and anyone who’d incorporate a cut like that into what they do, you know their heart’s in the right place.

Ditto that sentiment for the rhythm section. Tres Perros comes from former members of desert-minded rockers Luna Negra, and while there are some commonalities in their fuzzy approach, Tres Perros seems altogether more jam-minded in their instrumentals, guitarist Mushroom leading the way through nine-minute Live at Jagerklause opener “Sonar/Echo Elephant” with wah-infused psychedelics while bassist Chris McDope and drummer KaVa hold down the Nebula-style grooves behind. True, by the time you get down to “Universal Leaf Land,” the band has tipped the vast majority of their plays, but the charm endures all the way through the finish of “Spacecraft (Groove),” aptly named in both its title proper and parenthetical.

It’s not groundbreaking stuff, but my fascination with the Polish stoner scene endures, and if Luna Negra wasn’t going to pan out, it’s good to know that some of those guys are still moving forward with Tres Perros, whose live demo is a brazen move for a first outing but enjoyable all the more for it. If you’re so inclined, you can check out the band on their Thee Facebooks or Bandcamp pages. You’ll find the entirety of Live at Jagerklause in the player below, courtesy of the latter:

A lot can happen to a band in four years. It can form, it can break up, it can lose members, gain members, release albums, tour – just about anything really. In the case of Polish rockers Elvis Deluxe, what they did in the four years since making their debut with the full-length Lazy is undertake a massive stylistic growth that now shows itself on Favourite State of Mind (Harmony Records), their second album. Where Lazy was charming if generic stoner rock, Favourite State of Mind finds the Warsaw outfit exploring a host of influences while also expanding on some of the ideas from last time. Stylized punk, heavy psychedelia, driving rock and even a bit of hardcore all show up across Favourite State of Mind’s 12 tracks, and the record is genuinely surprising in terms of how well it flows and how coherent and confident the band sounds. With the diverse vocals of bassist Ziemba, a range of atmospheres is cast and Elvis Deluxe feel just as much at home in one as in another, and as a result, the album is one that not only warrants repeat listens, but utterly flourishes in them.

The aptly-titled “Intro” is instrumental guitar strummed by drummer Miko, and it sets the stage for a lot of Favourite State of Mind. Soft ringing notes are soon swallowed in a mass of feedback, and the transition from that song into “Let Yourself Free” is just jarring enough to make you look back at it. Ziemba adapts his vocals to the more punkish material on the record the way Queens of the Stone Age might have switched between Josh Homme’s melodic singing and Nick Oliveri’s rougher edge — essentially doing the work of both of them, and doing it well – and “Let Yourself Free” finds its strongest statement in the intricate layering of both the guitars of Mechu (since out of the band and replaced by Bert Trust of Castor Fiber) and Bolek and Ziemba’s bass and vocals. The bassline to “Let Yourself Free” isn’t really a focal point, but almost immediately on “Out all Night,” it’s Ziemba providing the song’s sway and swagger, the guitars layering a memorable lead over the chorus with Cieju’s effective organ work. Already, roughly six minutes into Favourite State of Mind, it’s clear Elvis Deluxe are a completely different band than they were four years ago. They’ve grown out of the trappings of their genre and into something more individual and altogether more engaging. “Out all Night” uses fuzz distortion but by no means relies on it, and like the album as a whole, gets a boost from the natural-sounding production.

Their momentum continues through the catchy, more straightforward riff rocking “Fade Away,” where Ziemba backs himself through a call and response chorus that’s one of the strongest on Favourite State of Mind. “Fade Away” is the first of several tracks to feature guest guitarist Kazan, and as Ziemba affects a falsetto bridge leading into the last chorus, the heavier crunch of the track feels all the more appropriate moving into the intro of “This Time,” which sounds not so much borrowed from Kyuss’ “100 Degrees” as built on top of it. The tonality and some of the rhythm is the same, but Miko takes a different approach from Brant Bjork on the drums and the song soon turns the riff on its head. Ziemba takes a more passive approach vocally, riding the song’s formidable groove and allowing the music more space to breathe than on “Fade Away” or any of the cuts preceding. In terms of the structure of Favourite State of Mind, this is the moment in the classic live show where the band has already opened strong and work to shift – not dip – the progression. They keep that all-in-one-room feel alive (I don’t know if that’s how they actually recorded, but one can almost hear the drum sounds bouncing off a high ceiling), and as “This Time” transitions into “Out There,” it’s clear the track was positioned not just to play off the energy of the opening trio that followed “Intro,” but also to set the stage for the more psychedelic side of Elvis Deluxe.

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Part of the growing and fertile Polish stoner rock scene, Satellite Beaver make no bones about their love for all that’s heavy on their most recent self-released demo Trip Outside Your Mind. The band formed in 2008 and are definitely still figuring out their sound, but like a lot of the nascent acts in and around Warsaw rock city, the four-piece display a genuine affection for the lineage of stoner and other riffy-type rock, and that goes a long way toward establishing their charm on the three-song release.

The title Trip Outside Your Mind might lead you to believe we’re going to be dealing with far-out space reverb psychedelia, 13-minute expansive songs that delve into Hawkwindian self-indulgence, but Satellite Beaver are more earthbound than that, rocking like Earthride or a half-speed High on Fire, the vocals of guitarist Simon the Beaver leading the arguments in favor of the comparison. On opener “Fat Man in Wellingtons,” he and his fellow Beavers (each member takes “The Beaver” as their last name) begin with about 45 seconds of noise before actually starting the song – a bold move on a release that’s only 15 and a half minutes total – but once they get going, the groove is palpable, the tones are thick and the vibe is stoned. Fellow guitarist/backing vocalist Tom the Beaver contributes to the heft of “Fat Man in Wellingtons” and the quicker “OD&D” with bassist Marian the Beaver and drummer Mad the Beaver proving more than capable of following the guitars wherever they may take the songs along whatever path they choose to get where they’re going.

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I guess if there’s a three-year time span between recording your album and sending it out for review, you earn the right to call it Lazy. Such is the case with Poland’s Elvis Deluxe, who might be the most Swedish group of rockers Warsaw has ever produced. The old-school four-piece (vocals, guitar, bass, drums) are heavily indebted to the first couple Dozer records, and of course Kyuss is always a comparison point, but there are moments where their individuality flourishes, and in many ways, those are the strongest of the record.

Still, you tread dangerous ground calling an album Lazy, and fortunately for Elvis Deluxe, the songwriting isn’t. At its most derivative – parts of “Extraterrestrial Hideout Seeker” and “Sleep Brings No Relief” – the material is still well done, recorded smoothly and crafted with sincerity rather than mocking irony. A song like “Ready to Rage,” with its handclap-ready punkish snare hits, isn’t necessarily original, but at no point on the album do Elvis Deluxe seem like innovation is their first priority. Rather, Lazy, which was released in 2007 on Get by Records, vibes like a bunch of guys having a good time rocking out, and that’s exactly its appeal.

It doesn’t sound out of date for being a few years old, or at least no more than it means to. The stoner rock sound is built on homage, so although Dozer hasn’t sounded like this in a decade, it’s not like Elvis Deluxe’s sound is passé. Hell, I don’t know if it was ever “cool” to begin with. Who cares? It rocks.

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Poland’s Black River are a bunch of dudes playing dudely dude rock for an audience of dudes. And just because I don’t feel that last sentence had enough “dudes” in it to properly convey the ultimate dudeliness of Black River: Dude.

Seriously, the Warsaw double-guitar five-piece’s second album, Black ‘n’ Roll (out in Europe last year on Mystic Productions, now seeing US release through Armoury Records), is rife with beer-raising über-rock that’s unrepentantly pop-oriented, but not in the American commercial sense. You’re not going to see Black River doing Burger King ads anytime soon, but it’s the kind of heavy rock that’s viable in Europe, and with a lineup featuring members of Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir, it comes with a built-in interest factor for fans of either band and an automatic leg-up as far as getting the name out is concerned.

While it’s easy to see a crowd of burly Eurodudes in leather jackets rocking out to songs like “Isabel” and the punkier “Black ‘n’ Roll,” equal parts Misfits and Bad Religion, I have a hard time imagining an American audience for Black River. In many ways, the songs are too commercial to really be underground, and too underground (and frankly, too hard rocking) to be commercial, straddling a line that’s been the undoing of many quality acts through the years. Still, the songwriting is solid, the music is unpretentious — the central riff of “Breaking the Wall” is enough to justify the rest of the record on its own – and just because a band doesn’t meet this or that role is no reason to count them out. Black ‘n’ Roll has a couple highlight moments that more than make up for any culture clash.

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If you missed vol. 1 of “On the Radar: The Polish Scene,” it’s right here.

One listen to the live version of “Mighty Sasquatch,” which Warsaw four-piece Satellite Beaver have posted on their MySpace, and Kyuss becomes an immediate reference point. This holds up throughout the other two tracks, “Nitro Steam Engine” and the cleverly titled “OD’n'D,” though the vocals on the middle of the three songs more brings to mind a Queens of the Stone Age track with Nick Oliveri singing lead. Vocalist guitarist Simon the Beaver (all band members’ names end with “the Beaver“) comes across pretty roughly here, but one imagines the case to be different on studio recordings as it so often is.

Satellite Beaver and Broken Betty, as well as several of the other acts we’ll be looking at as this series on the Polish stoner scene unfolds, are still developing their sound, still deciding what sonic elements they want to bring to the table in terms of where to take their songs and just how they want to manifest their interpretations of the inviolable riff. For now, Satellite Beaver — rounded out by guitarist/backing vocalist Tom the Beaver, bassist Doman the Beaver and drummer Mad the Beaver — offer these three live songs as a demonstration of what they’re trying to accomplish, and particularly on “OD’n'D,” they succeed where many more established acts don’t in making the conventions of the stoner genre the basis from which they form their own style, rather than the style itself.

But of course, it’s early. Any ground-floor types out there, I hope you’re paying attention to this stuff, because in about five years’ time, when some of these bands will have broken up, traded members and hopefully all come out in possession of heightened musical awareness for the trials they’ve endured, Poland is going to be an epicenter of kickass rock and roll. If they can keep up the energy and not get mired in the kind of bullshit that drags down so many other quality acts, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Satellite Beaver grew into one of the scene’s strongest outfits.