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Getting to Know Small Stone’s Latest Signings: Neon Warship and La Chinga

Venerable Detroit-based imprint Small Stone Records — which I’d argue is probably the most prevalent American purveyor of heavy rock and roll these days, what with a roster that includes Roadsaw, Wo Fat, Dixie Witch, Sasquatch, Gozu, Lo-Pan, on and on — has announced the addition of two new power trios to its ever-growing stable: Dayton, Ohio’s Neon Warship and Vancouver’s La Chinga.

What the two bands have in common with each other they have in common with a lot of Small Stone‘s other groups, and that’s groove and a love of classic rock. La Chinga get down with no shortage of swaggering boogie, while Neon Warship hit into thicker tones and bigger crash, but both set themselves apart with quality riffing and oldschool vibes.

In case you haven’t had an encounter with one or both yet, here’s a little bit and some tunes to familiarize:

La Chinga (Vancouver, BC)

Yes, as in “The Fuck.” If you’ve got your hard-boozing and steal-your-girlfriend imagery ready to go, then you’re ready to meet Canadian trio La Chinga. Comprised of bassist/vocalist Carl Spackler, guitarist/vocalist Ben Yardley (also theremin!) and drummer/vocalist Jay Solyom, they bask in the glory days of early ’70s heavy rock, and update the form with a crisp, large production sound on their self-titled 2013 self-titled debut. Songs like “The Wheel” and “When I Get Free” offer 8-track-ready stomp and dynamic grooves, while the opening boogie of “Early Grave” and the motor-chugging “La Chinga” show off a vibrancy that puts La Chinga among Small Stone‘s most good-time swaggering acts. And you know that’s saying something when it comes to the bands on this label.

La Chinga released La Chinga in April and are set to return to the studio before 2013 is out, with their label debut release coming in 2014. Until then, dig into the self-titled and try not to think of summer:

La Chinga, La Chinga (2013)

Neon Warship (Dayton, OH)

With the lineup of Kevin Schindel, Matt Tackett and Jay Bird, Ohio’s Neon Warship crashed into our plane of existence early in 2013 with their own self-titled work, a vinyl-ready 36 minutes of alternately soulful and thundering tonal weight, barely tamed at all on tracks like the 10-minute centerpiece “Paralyzed,” which proved to be anything but with its smoking leads, crashing riffs and memorable ’90s-style vocal melodies, only to lead to more metallic gallop on the your-skatepark-isn’t-big-enough “In Waves” like nothing ever happened. Earlier cuts “Carry You Away” and “Weather Breeder” showed a penchant for hooks and grooves, but Neon Warship were just as lethal in the stretches of nine-minute closer “Burn the Breeze.”

They’ll support Orange Goblin on Oct. 25 at the Rockstar Pro Arena and are reportedly working on writing songs for their first Small Stone outing to be recorded next year. Shuffle on this in the meantime:

Neon Warship, Neon Warship (2013)

Kudos and good luck to both bands on making their Small Stone debuts. More on all parties at the links below.

La Chinga on Thee Facebooks

Neon Warship on Thee Facebooks

Small Stone Records

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One Response to “Getting to Know Small Stone’s Latest Signings: Neon Warship and La Chinga”

  1. Bill Goodman says:

    Yet more great signings to Small Stone. I love both albums by these guys. Top grade A material.

    La Chinga is getting their self titled debut picked up by Bilocation Records and is getting it repressed with a track not on the self released version.

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