About That Fake Kyuss Track You’ve Been Seeing Around Today…

aikyuss game over cover

…It’s fake and it sucks.

That’s pretty much what there is to say about it. I’ve seen a couple people this morning post about what alleges itself as a new Kyuss song — it would be the first from the desert rock progenitors since their Man’s Ruin Records split passed the torch to Queens of the Stone Age in 1997 (discussed here) — and frankly, if such a thing were to really happen, if some incarnation or other of Kyuss reformed, I would hope the algorithm that’s been tracking my every digital and physical movement for the last decade and a half would know by now that’s something I want to be in the loop about. But no, Kyuss aren’t back together. It’s AI, or something close to it, and the track, “Game Over,” sounds nothing like Kyuss. It’s instrumental — which would be possible but unlikely for a “we’re back” first song to reestablish the band who very much had a singer in John Garcia — and it’s metal. So yes, it’s fake and it sucks.

There’s little question that a Kyuss reunion would be mostly welcomed. In 2010, Garcia began touring the band’s classic material under the name Garcia Plays Kyuss, which evolved into Kyuss Lives! and Vista Chino, who to-date remain as close as the band has come to getting back together. Garcia, bassist Nick Oliveri (who was eventually replaced in Vista Chino by Mike Dean of C.O.C.) and drummer Brant Bjork, as well as European ringer guitarist Bruno Fevery, explored both the Kyuss legacy and where it might go in moving forward with new ideas and styles, but without original guitarist Josh Homme involved — which he clearly wasn’t going to be since he sued the band for using the Kyuss name in the first place, forcing their hand to change to Vista Chino — they didn’t get the attention they deserved and the project fizzled after one album, 2013’s Peace (discussed here, review here). That record was awesome, and did what it set out to do, but the lawsuit was kind of an unfortunate addendum to one of the greatest legacies in underground heavy rock. As with Kyuss‘ original four-LP run, Vista Chino left a lot on the table in terms of what could’ve been.

If Kyuss-proper were ever to return — and I wouldn’t hold my breath until Queens of the Stone Age are absolutely void of any commercial potential whatsoever, whatever platitudes might be offered in the meantime — I would certainly hope they’d do it with something better than “Game Over.” Of course, Oliveri and Bjork collaborated in recent years in Stöner, and Garcia has woven through a number of projects and solo outings — Hermano are about to release an EP with their first new material since 2007; it’s out Friday on Ripple Music — and Homme built Queens of the Stone Age into a powerhouse of influence and a figurehead outfit in the greater sphere of rock music. The legend of Kyuss, of records like Blues for the Red Sun and Sky Valley (yes, officially it’s self-titled; thank you), deserves better than to be the subject of a stupid AI trolling, but honestly, I’m not sure why it would be exempt when nothing else is.

But the bottom line either way is about five seconds into the song, you know it’s a fake, so if I just saved you hearing it, so much the better. If you’re curious and want to check out what an artificial intelligence that clearly needs to listen to more actual-Kyuss came up with to represent the band, it’s below. I don’t recommend it, but there you have it.

Thanks for reading.

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6 Responses to “About That Fake Kyuss Track You’ve Been Seeing Around Today…”

  1. Joe Da Cunza says:

    Vista Chino was awesome. That would have, could have & should have been a legit continuation of the Kyuss legacy. Josh didn’t approve of the Kyuss Lives thing and that is his choice – but Bruno Fevery added enough ‘lead’ guitarist energy that put them on a different plane. The addition of Mike (f’n) Dean on bass was genius. When we saw them in this lineup it was one of the best concert experiences ever. No disrespect to Oliveri but Mike Dean is just a gifted musician channeling the great Geezer Butler. I really thought Vista Chino was going to be the continuing band for John Garcia (but then again everything he does is epic)

    • JJ Koczan says:

      I really, really wish Vista Chino had done a record with Mike Dean on bass. I was probably at the same NY show as you in 2013. The potential in that lineup was massive. Truly could’ve become its own thing in a way I guess the band didn’t ultimately want to do.

  2. Bernard says:

    Strange its released on the bands Spotify?

  3. Hllblzr says:

    Semi-related to this; was listening to Peace the other day, and got to thinking about John Garcia and everything he’s done.

    Is / Was he really difficult to deal with as a band member, or just a really unlucky guy with projects falling apart?

  4. Dave says:

    Did you hear about the Hail Darkness thing, they sold merch and LPs, even was on August doom charts, then came out that it was all created with AI:

    https://haildarkness.substack.com/p/what-is-real-nothing-is-real

    • Simon says:

      I thought some of Hail Darkness’ album covers looked AI generated but it took me by surprise that their music was as well since their music style sounds way less polished and more rough-around-the-edges in the exact same way 1960’s/1970’s bands were, compared to most other modern bands going for that sound.

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