Wino Wednesday: Spirit Caravan, Jug Fulla Sun in Full
If you were to ask me, “Hey dude, how come you haven’t had Jug Fulla Sun for Wino Wednesday yet?” I’d have a simple answer: Because it’s not on YouTube. It’s been 94 weeks since I started this feature — Wino Wednesday #100 approacheth! — and until very recently, there were clips of Spirit Caravan‘s ultra-classic 1999 debut, individual songs and live versions, but the album front to back had yet to make its way to the interwebs. Finally, though, the golden rays of day can clear out all the poison jive — Jug Fulla Sun is available in full.
Released just before the century turned on Joe Lally of Fugazi‘s Tolotta Records imprint and just begging for a reissue through Southern Lord or some likewise worthy outlet — maybe a Burning World Records 180 gram LP with accompanying CD to coincide with a hypothetical Roadburn 2014 reunion set? Just sayin’, that would rule — Jug Fulla Sun is one of the most pivotal American stoner rock albums ever, and the trio of Scott “Wino” Weinrich (guitar/vocals), Dave Sherman (bass/backing vocals) and Gary Isom (drums) were years ahead of their time in their ability to construct a laid back feel that was also righteously heavy. The combination of Sherman‘s bottom end and Wino‘s riffing is one that has set a template for US heavy most bands can only dream of living up to, and songs like “Dead Love/Jug Fulla Sun,” the catchy “Cosmic Artifact,” “Fang” and “Kill Ugly Naked” — originally an Obsessed track from one of their earlier demos — gave Jug Fulla Sun a diverse personality unified by the band’s largely unmatched chemistry.
Of course, the story of Wino‘s career is one of transience, so Spirit Caravan‘s time came and went. They followed Jug Fulla Sun with the Dreamwheel EP on MeteorCity later in ’99, and the Elusive Truth full-length in 2001, and wrapped their tenure with the So Mortal Be single in 2002 and 2003’s The Last Embrace compilation as Wino moved forward with The Hidden Hand, Sherman made Earthride (who released their first EP in 2000) his first priority, and Isom played in Nitroseed, Valkyrie and Pentagram before reuniting with Sherman in Weed is Weed, playing guitar on the band’s Blunt Force Trauma (get it?) 2013 debut.
But Jug Fulla Sun, like the best of albums, stands as an artifact of a moment that was unto itself. The audio in the stream cut out a bit after the 10-minute mark and came back two minutes later, but I couldn’t decide if that was just me, and either way, it’s still one of the best American heavy albums ever made, so enjoy and have a great Wino Wednesday:
Anyone agree that the version from the “Lost Sun Dance” 7″ is different from this one?