In our fourth and penultimate On the Radar concerning the burgeoning stoner rock scene in Poland (previous installments here, here and here), we take a look at the band Fifty Foot Woman, who seem to separate themselves from the desert rock of their peers with a heavier, more bikerly style, like modern Orange Goblin with some slightly more stoner flourishes. Their MySpace has several tracks new and old, and the differences between them are palpable.

For example, “The Wall” is newer and sounds it. The production is clearer, with more separation between the instruments. More professional, in other words, whereas “The Hitchhiker,” “The Black Hills” and “The Blessing of NonExistence” are rawer, more demo quality, but nonetheless possessing a charm of their own. Like the other bands covered in this series, Fifty Foot Woman have a straightforward approach to songwriting and will be familiar stylistically to those who’ve been around the scene for a while, but their weightier approach does stand them out.

Of the free recordings I’ve heard from the four-piece, I think I prefer the trio of demo tracks to “The Wall,” the cleaner production of which seems to (at least when heard in streaming quality) push the gruff vocals too far forward and lose some of the thickness in the guitars. “The Wall” is also shorter and may be typical of a shift in the band’s attack, opting for tighter, more condensed material, but again, that’s not really the issue. They execute the style well enough, it’s really the way the song is produced — and it’s not necessarily that it’s bad, I just dig the other material more.

Toward the end of last year, Fifty Foot Woman made “The Wall” available as a free digital single, and anyone wishing to check that out can do so here, but I wouldn’t urge that as a starting point so much as the other streaming tracks on the MySpace page. Either way you choose to check them out, consider doing so recommended. Like their countrymen in Broken Betty, Belzebong, The Vagitarians, Satellite Beaver and others, Fifty Foot Woman are well worth keeping on the radar.

Tags: Fifty Foot Woman, Poland, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 12:20 pm and is filed under On the Radar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.