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Karma Vulture Premiere “No One’s There”; Debut Album Something Better Out April 28

Karma Vulture

Nashville-based heavy rockers Karma Vulture release their debut album, Something Better, on April 28 through Bent Knee Records. Born in Joshua Tree, California, the three-piece delivered their well-received Death by Comfort EP in March 2022, following 2020’s debut three-songer, Loud as Fuck, its complementary Live as Fuck live outing, and a host of singles going back to 2019. The album — crisp in its production by drummer/backing vocalist Ben Foerg, with Conor Spellane on bass/vocals and Will Hammond on guitar — runs 10 songs and 44 minutes and is a melting pot of influences.

As one might anticipate from the ‘vulture’ part of their moniker or the Joshua Tree namedrop, desert rock is a root influence, but almost immediately upon switching out the orchestral-noisy intro “Something Good” for the straight-up heavy rock groove of “Something Better” — maybe theremin ringing behind, maybe feedback — the band bring in other elements, whether it’s a bit of mid-period Monster Magnet in the strut of the riff of the title-track, the hints of Soundgarden in Spellane‘s vocals notwithstanding the Josh Homme-style falsetto flourish in the first of the record’s several memory-implant hooks.

Indeed, Queens of the Stone Age are an underlying, almost subconscious factor in Karma Vulture‘s style in various ways throughout: the vocals in “Something Better,” the shove of the later, dirtier-toned “No One’s There” (premiering below), the clearheaded-semi-psych atmosphere in the production of “Rabbit Hole,” and even the Alain Johannes-style arrangement flourish as part of the production in the big solo finish of “Pictures of the Past,” which turns from being a rock-ballad vocal showcase for Spellane — who, to his credit, carries it with a trained-sounding, almost Jack Blackian melodic ease — to a purposefully grandiose instrumental emotive evocation.

But Homme et. al. can’t necessarily account for the upstrummed Clutch boogie blues in “Do the Twitch,” which foreshadows the rougher edge in the guitar on “No One’s There” while doing something else stylistically, or any of side B’s per-song excursions, be it that first part of “Pictures of the Past,” the lean into what would be commercial alt rock if not for the punch of fuzzy bass beneath it on “Not Sure” (an Idiocracy reference?), “La Mirada” delivering on its desert acoustic promise with echoing vocals and loosely Middle Eastern scales, or the 10-minute finale “Cold Feet” pondering a meeting between The Claypool Lennon Delirium circa “Blood And Rockets: Movement I, Saga of Jack Parsons” andkarma vulture something better beloved Toronto head rockers Quest for Fire, with a little more of that Monster Magnet swagger-stomp bookending for good measure.

Songwriting, in addition to the basic ‘is-heavy’ factor of most of the material, is what’s tying Something Better together, but perhaps unsurprisingly for a band who’ve released a bunch of standalone single-tracks, each inclusion feels like it was written with its own intent — the business-up-front rockers in the title-track, “Do the Twitch,” “Rabbit Hole” and “No One’s There,” and the contextual expansion that takes place over “Pictures of the Past,” “Not Sure,” “La Mirada” and “Cold Feet” — and arranged together for a full-album flow. This is a classic method and Karma Vulture, while modern in their sound, employ it well, recalling defunct Texas rockers Heavy Glow in their considered approach while retaining a persona of their own.

Particularly as a first long-player, Something Better is all the more appreciable for the band’s aesthetic reach, and the sense of craft behind it — as well as being self-produced — speaks to the potential of the group to carry their accomplishments here forward to whatever might come next, if that’s more short releases or a second album down the line, or, more likely, both. I won’t say there aren’t any debut-record stumbles — “La Mirada” feels like fertile ground for editing at five minutes, and I can’t get Matchbox 20 out of my head when I hear “Not Sure,” which stings a bit in the ol’ frontal lobe — but those are well outweighed by what Karma Vulture are able to manifest in terms of both concept and performance.

Catchy straight up heavy rock and roll, looking to directly engage an audience as it sets out on a path of songwriting and creative growth sound like something up your alley? If not, I might ask what masochistic impulse has you still reading this. In any case, Karma Vulture‘s set forth with poise and surety on Something Better, and give the impression of knowing what and who they want to be as a group. To want more from it or them, given the quality of the end-result produced in what might eventually come to be seen as a formative stage of their progression, feels unreasonable, unwarranted. In short, dudes are on their way.

“No One’s There” premieres on the player below, and PR wire info follows. Please enjoy:

Pre-orders:
https://karmavulture.bandcamp.com

Karma Vulture is a Desert Rock power trio, originally from Joshua Tree, now based in Nashville. Consisting of singer/bassist Conor Spellane, guitarist Will Hammond, and drummer Ben Foerg, the band has a familiar yet idiosyncratic sound, blending elements of stoner rock & 90s grunge, with hints classic rock, psych, and modern alternative rock for good measure. The band executes their earworm hooks and hammer dropping riffs with equal aplomb. Or in other words: It’s super heavy, super catchy, and super dope.

Founded in late 2018, the band hit its stride with the addition of Foerg on drums, and released its first EP with their current lineup in early 2022. Death By Comfort was recorded by Norm Block (Mark Lanegan, Brian Jonestown Massacre) in Spring 2020 just as the world was shutting down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They finished it remotely thru the pandemic, with mixing engineer Joshua Martinez, and then used the remaining months of the lockdown to record their first full-length LP, Something Better, which drops on April 28th, 2023.

Karma Vulture:
Conor Spellane: Bass, Vocals
Will Hammond: Guitar
Ben Foerg: Drums, Backup Vocals

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One Response to “Karma Vulture Premiere “No One’s There”; Debut Album Something Better Out April 28”

  1. […] Stoner rock trio Karma Vulture share a new single from their forthcoming debut full-length via The Obelisk. Hear and share »No One’s There« HERE. […]

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