Posted in Radio on September 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Two weeks ago I was at Psycho Las Vegas, and so didn’t get to post the playlist for episode 91. For posterity’s sake and because I plainly love looking at lists of band names, it’s below along with the playlist for the episode airing today, which is #92. The march to 100 continues.
The esteemed Dean Rispler (who also plays in Mighty High and a bunch of other bands) is in charge of putting the shows together on a practical level from the lists I send, and to him I extend my deepest appreciation. I’m constantly late. I suck at this in general, and worse, I know it. So yeah. Dean does a bit of hand-holding and I am thankful. He emailed me this week and asked if I was thinking yet about episode 100 and would I be doing anything special?
Well… yes. I have been. And I’d like to make it a blowout or some such, but you know what the truth is? I’m more about the work. When it comes to something like that, the most honest thing I feel like I can do is keep my head down, do another episode and then do one after that two weeks later. I’d rather feel good about a thing in myself and move on. I’m not sure I can get away with that. So maybe I’ll hit up Tommi Dozer and see if he wants to chat sometime in the next few weeks.
Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 09.02.22 (VT = voice track)
Elephant Tree
Aphotic Blues
Elephant Tree
Might
Abysses
Abyss
Author & Punisher
Misery
Kruller
VT
Lord Elephant
Hunters of the Moon
Cosmic Awakening
Swarm of the Lotus
Snowbeast
The Sirens of Silence
Big Business
Heal the Weak
The Beast You Are
The Otolith
Sing No Coda
Folium Limina
VT
Elder
Halcyon
Omens
Gaerea
Mantle
Mirage
London Odense Ensemble
Sojourner
Jaiyede Sesssions Vol. 1
Northless
What Must Be Done
A Path Beyond Grief
Conan
A Cleaved Head No Longer Plots
Evidence of Immortality
VT
Forlesen
Strega
Black Terrain
And #91, which was a pretty damn good show:
Dozer
The Flood
Beyond Colossal
Orange Goblin
Blue Snow
Time Travelling Blues
Monster Magnet
King of Mars
Dopes to Infinity
Red Fang
Fonzi Scheme
Arrows
VT
Slift
Citadel on a Satellite
Ummon
Russian Circles
Gnosis
Gnosis
Faetooth
Echolalia
Remnants of the Vessel
Caustic Casanova
Lodestar
Glass Enclosed Nerve Center
Brant Bjork
Trip on the Wine
Bougainvillea Suite
Josiah
Saltwater
We Lay on Cold Stone
Blue Tree Monitor
Sasquatch
Cryptids
VT
Torche
Tarpit Carnivore
In Return
Telekinetic Yeti
Rogue Planet
Primordial
Mezzoa
Dunes of Mars
Dunes of Mars
Thunderbird Divine
Boote’s Void
The Hand of Man
Omen Stones
Burn Alive
Omen Stones
1000mods
Vidage
Super Van Vacation
VT
Truckfighters
Con of Man
Mania
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Sept. 16 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Stöner have divided listeners since their inception, from their name to their records, but there’s no question they’re out there working. From the moment it was remotely advisable to tour (and really before that too), the trio of Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Ryan Güt have been at it and the thread continues here. They’re in Europe now, will be back in the US for East Coast dates and now announce a first trip to Australia and New Zealand for October and November.
It’d never happen, but I have actual body parts I’d give up to go on this tour. Maybe not an arm, but at least three toes and the top half of an ear. Aus/NZ is the ultimate pipedream, as far as I’m concerned, and Stöner go even as Bjork has a new solo album coming and Oliveri has announced acoustic shows, so yes, getting out, making it work, doing the thing, hopefully pulling in some cash for practicalities like food and recording equipment and so on. Even better, going along are The Rubber Snake Charmers, which as per the poster includes Mario Lalli as well as desert-weirdo-poet Sean Wheeler in the lineup. Should be a party, which if you’re gonna do it is how it’s to be done.
Special heads up, too. They’ll stream their Sept. 1 gig from Reggies in Chicago like a good old pandemic-times wish-you-were-here treat for those unable to show up in person. I’ll take that happily, thank you.
From socials:
STÖNER – AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND !!!
STÖNER with The Rubber Snake Charmers featuring Sean Wheeler
Sat 29th October – Do The Pop Festival VIC Link: www.dothepop.com.au Sun 30th October – The Gasometer Hotel Melbourne Link: https://gasometer.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/6a3ea32e-8f95-4427-83d0-0dace0560346 Tues 01st November – Stoner Fest at Singing Bird Studios Frankston VIC Link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/stonerfest-w-stonerusa-mario-lalli-and-the-rubber-snake-charmers-more-tickets-391323447967 Wed 02nd November – Crown and Anchor Adelaide SA Link: https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/stoner-usa-/142125 Thurs 03rd November – La la las Wollongong NSW https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/stoner-usa-w-mario-lalli-and-the-rubber-snake-charmers-usa-full-tone-generator/142107 Fri 4th November – Crowbar Sydney NSW https://bit.ly/STONERSYD Sat 05th November – Mo’s Desert Clubhouse Gold Coast QLD Link: https://www.mosdesertclubhouse.com/events/aftermath-ii-gc Sun 06th November – Woolly Mammoth Brisbane QLD Link: https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/stoner-usa-/142363?previewId=2B474DC0-08A6-11ED-A7FD-AFAB7C127A4A Mon 07th November – The Basement Canberra ACT Link: https://thebasementcanberra.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/1b5aabb4-6f7f-47ed-9ef3-c847341cf9a0?preview=4a02289b-7262-41be-a817-20b3429be644 Wed 09th November – San Fran, Wellington NZ – ticket link https://bit.ly/StonerWgtn-Chch Thurs 10th November – 12 Bar – Christchurch NZ – ticket link https://bit.ly/StonerWgtn-Chch Fri 11th November- Tuning Fork – Auckland NZ – ticket link https://bit.ly/StonerAuckland canberra.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/1b5aabb4-6f7f-47ed-9ef3-c847341cf9a0?preview=4a02289b-7262-41be-a817-20b3429be644 Wed 09th November – San Fran, Wellington NZ – ticket link https://bit.ly/StonerWgtn-Chch Thurs 10th November – 12 Bar – Christchurch NZ – ticket link https://bit.ly/StonerWgtn-Chch Fri 11th November- Tuning Fork – Auckland NZ – ticket link https://bit.ly/StonerAuckland
ART BY : Stevie Gee!!!
STÖNER with special guest Mario Lalli & the Rubber Snake Charmers feat Sean Wheeler have announced a Global Livestream Sept,1 2022 at Reggies in Chicago! The concert will take place Sept 1, 2022 and will be avail on re-watch for 24 hours. Get tickets at https://www.zuma.live/event/50
STÖNER current European tour: 08.08.22 Treviso | Altroquando 10.08.22 Bruson | Palp Festival 11.08.22 Praia da Duna dos Caldeirões | Sonic Blast Moledo Festival 12.08.22 Kortrijk | Alcatraz Festival 13.08.22 Marienthal | Hoflärm Fest 14.08.22 Eindhoven | Effenaar-.-
STÖNER is: Brant Bjork – Guitars/Vocals Nick Oliveri – Bass Ryan Güt – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Stöner‘s end-of-summer schedule would seem to be taking shape, as they do a full round of festivals in Europe next month before returning to the US to hit the East Coast and Southwest. Neither tour is the longest the band has done, but fair enough as both are wrapped around festival appearances, with Muddy Roots in Tennessee and Monolith on the Mesa in New Mexico anchoring the lists of dates. The three-piece of Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Ryan Güt were among the multitudes this past weekend at RippleFest Texas 2022 as well, and they’ll continue to tour even as Bjork‘s new solo album, Bougainvillea Suite is set to arrive in October on Heavy Psych Sounds (info here). Busy busy busy. If you’re going to do a thing, do it.
I think I’d like to got to the Connecticut show. I put it in the calendar, and that’s the weekend after Psycho Las Vegas, but I haven’t caught Stöner yet, so if my drag-ass ass has yet recovered, I’ll give it a shot.
From social media:
STÖNER – Aug. & Sept. Tour
EAST COAST SOUTH WEST GO VAN GO VAN GO VAN GO!!!!
Thu 8/25 – Brooklyn, NY – Sovereign Fri 8/26 – Boston, MA – The Middle East (Sonia) Sat 8/27 – Jewett City, CT – Prost Bier and Music Hall Mon 8/29 – Philadelphia PA – King Fu Necktie Tue 8/30 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl Wed 8/31 – Ferndale, MI – Magic Mag Thu 9/1 – Chicago, IL – Reggie’s Fri 9/2 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups Sat 9/3 – Indianapolis, IN – Melody Inn Sun 9/4 – Muddy Roots Festival Tues 9/6 – Virginia Beach – the Bunker
Wed 9/14 – Las Vegas – Soulbelly BBQ Thu 9/15 – Grand Junction – Mesa Theater Fri 9/16 – Denver – HQ Sat 9/17 – Taos NM – Taos Monolith on the Mesa Mon 9/19 Scottsdale AZ with Eyehategod Tue 9/20 – San Diego – Brick By Brick
Previously announced European tour: AUGUST (+ support TBA) 02.08.22 (ITA) Cagliari | CuevaRock Live 04.08.22 (GER) Stuttgart | Universum 05.08.22 (AUT) Innsbruck | p.m.k 06.08.22 (ITA) Monguelfo | Burning Park Festival 07.08.22 (ITA) Bologna | Freakout Club Festival 08.08.22 (ITA) Treviso | ALTROQUANDO 10.08.22 (CHE) Bruson | PALP festival 11.08.22 (POR) Moledo | SonicBlast Fest 12.08.22 (BEL) Kortrijk | ALCATRAZ MUSIC Festival 13.08.22 (GER) Marienthal | Hoflärm 2022 Festival 14.08.22 (NLD) Eindhoven | Effenaar
STÖNER is: Brant Bjork – Guitars/Vocals Nick Oliveri – Bass Ryan Güt – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 19th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
As previously announced, Brant Bjork will release a new album this Fall. As not previously announced, the record is called Bougainvillea Suite and it’ll be out Oct. 28 along with reissues of his second and third solo releases, 2002’s Brant Bjork & The Operators and 2003’s Keep Your Cool, all three of which are available to preorder.
Also not previously unveiled: the new album artwork, the tracklisting, the pressing info, and most importantly, the new song “Trip on the Wine,” with a telltale mellow groove and melody in the vocals to go with its start-stop riff, organ backing, funktuational (that’s funky punctuation, of course) snare hits and catchy hook. There’s a fair amount of open space in the recording, but its three-minute sans-nonsense to-do is a good time and intrigues in terms of how Bjork might be using the studio this time around. Plus it’s got a song called “Ya Dig” on it and I’m interested to know if there are any other lyrics to it. If anyone could pull off an entire track of saying nothing but “ya dig,” I think we all know who that person is.
The PR wire mic dropped this in my inbox like 20 minutes ago, so have at it.
Heavy Psych Sounds to announce BRANT BJORK new album BOUGAINVILLEA SUITE + TWO REISSUES – presale starts TODAY
Today we are stoked to start the presale of the desert rock Legend BRANT BJORK upcoming brand new album BOUGAINVILLEA SUITE and 2 REISSUES: KEEP YOUR COOL and BRANT BJORK & THE OPERATORS !!!
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 28th
ALBUMs PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/index.html
USA PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm
HPS240
*** BRANT BJORK – Bougainvillea Suite ***
– BRAND NEW album of the desert rock Legend –
RELEASED IN
15 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD COLOR IN COLOR TRANSPARENT BACK. PINK/SPLATTER PURPLE VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD SIDE A-SIDE B PINK/WHITE/GREEN VINYL 250 LTD HALF-HALF BLACK/ORANGE/SPLATTER BLACK VINYL MUSTARD VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 28th
TRACKLIST Trip On The Wine Good Bones So They Say Broke That Spell Bread For Butter Ya’ Dig Let’s Forget Who Do You Love
ALBUM DESCRIPTION
Once again Brant Bjork is back with a wonderful new album “Bougainvillea Suite” !!
He’s never missed a shot in the last 20 years. His discography is connected by an imaginary line which crosses different sounds and melodies, but always with the same attitude. In the background you can imagine the Mojave desert where everything started many years ago, but his last record sounds fresh as his debut Jalamanta! Brant says about this album: “This is a bitter sweet record for me. So much change in my life. Some stuff more positive than others. But it’s always a blessing to be able to make a record and get the music out and to the fans. This is the last record to be recorded in my Joshua Tree studio. I’m saying good bye to an era and looking down the road toward new beginnings”
“Bougainvillea Suite” is composed by 8 songs. Produced by Yosef Sanborn and Brant Bjork. Recorded at The Rad Cabin, Joshua Tree, CA.
Engineered and mixed by Yosef Sanborn.
—
HPS239
*** BRANT BJORK – And The Operators ***
– 20th Anniversary REISSUE of the BRANT BJORK sophomore album with new cover and coloured vinyls –
RELEASED IN 15 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL 150 ULTRA LTD 3 COLORED STRIPE YELLOW/ORANGE/RED VINYL 400 LTD HALF-HALF BLACK/WHITE VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 28th
TRACKLIST
Hinda 65 – 5:05 Smarty Pants – 4:02 My Ghettoblaster – 4:48 Electric Lalli Land – 5:11 From The Ground Up (We Just Stay The Same) – 3:41 Cheap Wine – 4:09 Cocoa Butter – 3:13 Joey’s Radio – 4:01 Captain Lovestar – 6:33 Hinda 65 (Return Flight) – 4:57
ALBUM DESCRIPTION
Brant Bjork and the Operators is the second solo album by desert rocker Brant Bjork. Although titled Brant Bjork and the Operators, Bjork sings and plays most instruments on the album. He is joined by friends Mathias Schneeberger and Mario Lalli to lend guitar and vocals.
After 20 years Heavy Psych Sounds is reissuing this sweat gem with a brand new cover and new coloured vinyl versions !!!
—
HPS098V2
*** BRANT BJORK – Keep Your Cool ***
– REPRESS of the BRANT BJORK legendary album with new cover and coloured vinyls –
RELEASED IN 15 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD HALF-HALF BLACK/ORANGE/SPLATTER BLACK VINYL 350 LTD TRANSPARENT YELLOW VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 28th
TRACKLIST Hey, Monkey Boy Johnny Called Rock-N-Rol’e I Miss My Chick Keep Your Cool Gonna Make the Scene Searchin My Soul
ALBUM DESCRIPTION
‘Keep Your Cool’ is the third solo album by the Kyuss- and Fu Manchu-legend, originally released back in 2003 with Duna Records. Full of the soul and funky laid-back grooves BRANT BJORK is known and loved for, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and sweet guitar licks oozing from the great 70’s era vibes, ‘Keep Your Cool’ is still considered as one of BRANT BJORK’s accessible and catchiest records to date. Tracks such as ‘Hey, Monkey Boy’, ‘Johnny Called’ or ‘Gonna Make The Scene’ became classics in the stoner rock scene, taken from an album that belongs to every well-sorted BRANT BJORK record collection.
Heavy Psych Sounds is now giving new life to this gem with a brand new cover and coloured vinyls !!
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 12th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Today brings word that desert rock progenitor Brant Bjork will release a new album this Fall in continued collaboration with Heavy Psych Sounds, as well as two more reissues in the label’s ongoing series thereof. Particulars are light, as happens, but Bjork has been touring with his band Stöner since basically the minute touring started up again and so the switch to solo work is a noteworthy shift. As says the man himself, so much change in life.
The last Brant Bjork solo record was 2020’s Brant Bjork (review here), for which the bio I wrote appears below. Nice that it’s getting used. Since that time, Bjork, as noted, has been keeping busy with the trio Stöner alongside fellow-former Kyuss bandmate Nick Oliveri (also Mondo Generator, Dwarves, etc.) and drummer Ryan Güt, who also plays in Bjork‘s touring solo band. Stöner‘s second LP, Totally… (review here), came out this Spring, following behind last year’s Stoners Rule (review here) and their first release, the nearly concurrent live album Live in the Mojave Desert Vol. 4 (review here).
I have no idea what Bjork doing Brant Bjork material again means for Stöner, but it seems unlikely he would put out an album at this point and not tour, and as he leaves behind his studio setup in Joshua Tree, one wonders at what might be next for one of the architects of fuzz as we know it.
New song and more details next week. For now, this from the PR wire:
Heavy Psych Sounds to announce the coming back of desert legend BRANT BJORK – new album presale + first track premiere July 19th
Heavy Psych Sounds Records&Booking is really proud to announce the signing of the desert rock legend BRANT BJORK !!!
Mr. Bjork is coming back with a brand new album + 2 REISSUES released this autumn via Heavy Psych Sounds.
NEW ALBUM PRESALE + FIRST TRACK PREMIERE: JULY 19th
SAYS THE ARTIST:
“This is a bitter sweet record for me. So much change in my life. Some stuff more positive than others. But it’s always a blessing to be able to make a record and get the music out and to the fans. This is the last record to be recorded in my Joshua Tree studio. I’m saying good bye to an era and looking down the road toward new beginnings.” BB
BIOGRAPHY
Brant Bjork has spent over a quarter-century at the epicenter of Californian desert rock. From cutting his teeth alongside Fatso Jetson’s Mario Lalli in hardcore punkers De-Con to drumming and composing on Kyuss’ landmark early albums, to propelling the seminal fuzz of Fu Manchu from 1994-2001 while producing other bands, putting together offshoot projects like Ché, embarking on his solo career as a singer, guitarist and bandleader, founding his own record label and more, his history is a winding narrative of relentless, unflinching creativity.
For someone so outwardly laid back, he’s never really taken a break. And while Bjork has shown different sides of himself on albums like his funk-laden 1999 solo debut, Jalamanta, the mellow Local Angel (2004), 2007’s mostly-acoustic Tres Dias, and heavier rockers Somera Sól (2007), Gods & Goddesses (2010) and the two most recent outings with The Low Desert Punk Band, he’s maintained a natural representation of himself in his material, whether that’s coming across in the Thin Lizzy-isms of the faux-full-band 2002 release Brant Bjork and the Operators (actually just Bjork playing mostly by himself) or the weedy, in-the-jam-room spirit of “Dave’s War” from Tao of the Devil. When you’re listening to Brant Bjork, you know it, because there’s no one else who sounds quite like him.
That fact and years of hard touring have positioned Brant Bjork as an ambassador for the Southern California desert and the musical movement birthed there in the late ’80s and early ’90s. As underground interest has surged in recent years, Bjork has been a pivotal figurehead, realigning with his former Kyuss bandmate John Garcia to drum and write in Kyuss Lives!/Vista Chino, celebrating and building on that legacy while giving a new generation of fans the chance to see it happen in real-time.
Having told his story in films like Kate McCabe’s Sabbia (2006) and the documentaries Such Hawks Such Hounds (2008) and Lo Sound Desert (2015), he’s represented desert rock at home and abroad with no less honesty than that which he poured into the music helping to create it. The same impulse led to the founding of his Desert Generator in 2016, an annual festival held in Pioneertown, CA, with an international reach capturing the intimacy and timeless aura of the desert culture, including music, a van show, the Stoned & Dusted pre-show in a secret desert location, and an evolution that looks to continue into the foreseeable future.
Bjork’s work, with any project, has always had a rebellious sensibility. He’s alwayswalked his own path. But more, his career through Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Ché, Vista Chino, and his crucial solo work has been about freedom through rock and roll, attained by the truest representation of the person and the place as art. This, along with a whole lot of groove, is what has helped Brant Bjork define desert rock as a worldwide phenomenon, and whatever comes next, it is what will continue to make him its most indispensable practitioner.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 20th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Desert rock magnates Stöner are currently embroiled in a European tour as they make their way toward Desertfest Berlin in support of their newly-issued second album, Totally… (review here). And from the pics I’ve seen on social media, they’ve got Mario Lalli along selling merch/tour managing/being Mario Lalli, which is also awesome. Word comes down that they’ll continue to spend much of Summer 2022 abroad, doing a week of shows following their appearance at Hellfest in June before returning in August for SonicBlast in Portugal and a slew of others.
Seems like a lot of back and forth, but you can’t say they’re not out there hitting it for the record. They’ve already been on the road in the US alongside Clutch — twice, I think — and I wouldn’t be surprised if they came back in the Fall and did another American stint, which would likely include the East Coast since they did the West earlier in the year. Get yourself stöked. They’re doing the thing like punk rockers.
As seen on the internet:
STÖNER EUROPE SUMMER 2022
Hey friends,
the Stöner & Slomosa tour is still going strong and what a RAD ride it is. They got 11 more shows to rock, so go grab your tickets and see them absolutely killing it live!
For those of you who can’t get enough of Stöner (like we do…), we got something for ya!
What about a STÖNER FOLLOW UP SUMMER TOUR
The trio consisting of Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Ryan Gut in Stöner clearly don’t need an introduction anymore and you surely will read many familiar names when looking up their June toursupport’s line-up in Mario Lalli & the Rubber Snake Charmers:
Desert rock pioneer and curator of this project, Mario Lalli, and his likeminded friends Sean Wheeler, Brant Bjork, Dino Lalli and Ryan Güt will take you on a totally improvised sonic ride – heavy mediation on rhythms, drones and riffs – all anchored by Lalli’s grooving and morphing bass lines. They will take you on a shamans journey through sunbaked brains of these desert artists… a pure form of rock expression… DIG IT!
Sound of Liberation proudly presents: STÖNER + support – Europe 2022 tour
JUNE (+ support Mario Lalli & the Rubber Snake Charmers* ) 24.06.22 (FRA) Clisson | Hellfest Open Air Festival 26.06.22 (GER) Bremen | Zollkantine* 28.06.22 (SWE) Stockholm | Hus 7* 29.06.22 (SWE) Göteborg | Valand Nattklubb* 30.06.22 (SWE) Malmö | Plan B – malmö* 01.07.22 (NOR) Oslo | Rockefeller Oslo*
AUGUST (+ support TBA) 02.08.22 (ITA) Cagliari | CuevaRock Live 04.08.22 (GER) Stuttgart | Universum 05.08.22 (AUT) Innsbruck | p.m.k 06.08.22 (ITA) Monguelfo | Burning Park Festival 07.08.22 (ITA) Bologna | Freakout Club Festival 08.08.22 (ITA) Treviso | ALTROQUANDO 10.08.22 (CHE) Bruson | PALP festival 11.08.22 (POR) Moledo | SonicBlast Fest 12.08.22 (BEL) Kortrijk | ALCATRAZ MUSIC Festival 13.08.22 (GER) Marienthal | Hoflärm 2022 Festival 14.08.22 (NLD) Eindhoven | Effenaar
STÖNER is: Brant Bjork – Guitars/Vocals Nick Oliveri – Bass Ryan Güt – Drums
At some point between then and now, Stöner decided they were a real band. The Cali desert-dwelling three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Brant Bjork, bassist/vocalist Nick Oliveri and drummer Ryan Güt made their debut with the early-2021 livestream ‘Live in the Mojave Desert’ (review here), the audio for which was released that Spring as Live in the Mojave Desert Vol. 4 (review here) and followed by that Summer’s Stoners Rule (review here), on Heavy Psych Sounds. And if Stoners Rule was the trio testing the waters of their songwriting, renewing the decades-long, on-off collaboration between Bjork and Oliveri — whose pedigree probably doesn’t need to be recounted but between them includes Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age, Mondo Generator, solo work of various stripes and more besides — then they’re doing so was like an act of teenage graffiti sloppily spraypainting the words of its title on the outside wall of the local high school.
The second Stöner full-length, Totally…, also arrives through Heavy Psych Sounds and is the equivalent of the same ne’er-do-wells, perhaps while smoking out by the loading dock of the very same high school, asking if you want to go to a party. The pepperoni pizza on the cover — definitively cut as though the listener, perhaps if properly stöned, might reach in and grab a slice — is a flag bearing the hallmark of both generation and ethos. Oliveri and Bjork may or may not actually have been those kids, I don’t know, but they’re not at all trying to hide where they’re coming from as Totally… opens with “Party March,” which is essentially the two of them talking about different kinds of parties for a verse over a suitably marching riff and echoing chorus of “Party! Party!” before Oliveri, in a bit of honesty, mentions the voices in his head saying “march! march! march! march!”
It is the first of eight tracks on the 37-minute album, and it’s about three-quarters of a song. That sounds like I’m ragging on it, but I’m not, because it speaks to the entire philosophy of what Stöner does in stripping away all the parts of what Bjork and Oliveri do as songwriters — and I won’t minimize Güt‘s contributions here just because the dude wasn’t in Kyuss; he killed it on the first record and he holds these riffs together as only a classic swing drummer can — and rediscovering the feeling of writing songs about nothing more than partying, as on that opener and the subsequent “A Million Beers,” and whatever the heck is going on in “Space Dude & The Burn” or “Driving Miss Lazy.” There’s no pretense otherwise.
At a time when bands throughout the heavy underground are giving in on impulses to comment either about politics, the environment, a genuine plague, etc., Stöner instead find their comfort not through presenting their hot takes on social media or in their songs, but in a kind of hazy nostalgia. That’s not to say that “Stöner Theme” doesn’t have its confrontation with stigma — one is reminded of “Hey, Monkey Boy” from Bjork‘s 2003 album, Keep Your Cool, at least in the song’s construction — but even that’s relatively low stakes.
This was refreshing on Stoners Rule and it is here as well, and Totally… adds to the band’s dynamic in a way that skirts the issue of stagnation; certainly an underlying threat for a band trying to keep it simple across multiple releases. “A Million Beers” is a rager, but “Strawberry Creek (Dirty Feet)” is a mid-paced nodder that, like “Party March,” features vocals intertwining from both Oliveri and Bjork, and where the latter fronted most of the songs last time around, on Totally… that line is blurred somewhat, and so is the line of apparent sourcing in terms of who wrote what. Stöner, to repeat, have become a real band.
“Space Dude & The Burn” tops eight minutes and is the longest track on the album, stopping at two minutes in to riff out en route to Oliveri‘s declaration “We don’t really care what you think…” and the eventual beginning of the jam that will comprise the song’s middle third before they lock in one more groove to cap. It finds something of a mirror in album-closer “Great American Sage” as Bjork intones the hook that could also serve as a mission statement for the band, “Tell all the world/Every boy and girl/If it ain’t got soul/Then it ain’t no rock and roll.” An old sentiment, yeah, but that’s the point, and better said than Bob Seger.
Just two and a half minutes, “Stöner Theme” also provides an intro to side B similarly to “Party March” leading into “A Million Beers,” as its languid, purposefully sloppy unfolding gives over to the chug at the start of “Turn it Around Now,” an even-fuzzier, single-worthy mellow hook with Bjork out front and Oliveri backing in the chorus — less stage-ready-raucous and a bit longer at five minutes than even “Strawberry Creek (Dirty Feet)” let alone “A Million Beers,” but a good time in its own right — and the subsequent “Driving Miss Lazy” goes back to ground in giving both mic time over a riff that’s thick enough to make even a discerning listener blush. They’ll share duties one more time on “Great American Sage,” Güt complementing with cowbell here and there as they roll into the finale, which sounds improvised at least to some degree and becomes an appropriate mess of noise before it finally falls apart and leaves Oliveri to deliver the title-line in bluesy style. Soul, then, abounds.
The response to Stoners Rule was divided, at least from what I saw, and while some of this material feels like it was written specifically with touring in mind — i.e., written to be played live — I don’t think Totally… is trying to change anyone’s mind so much as brazenly, unrepentantly doing its own thing. If so inclined, one can read progression in the increase in shared vocals between Bjork and Oliveri, the fluidity of the changes throughout “Space Dude & The Burn” or “Turn it Around Now” or even “Great American Sage,” but doing so feels a bit like missing the point, and with a band so intentionally casual there’s no guarantee that any path one might come out of Totally… feeling like the band are on is going to hold over to the next LP.
So maybe, if you can (and if you can’t, that’s okay) shove all that shit to one side for half an hour or so and enjoy Stöner for what they are and what they represent. Grab a slice, stick your phone in your pocket for a bit, and hang out. If that is a vision of escapism from the various horrors of our day, you could do far, far worse. Party on.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Has it been a full 24 hours since the last bit of news around here about Heavy Psych Sounds went up? Maybe not every record that’s being re-pressed, even with new artwork, is worth posting about — if it were, I wouldn’t have time to post about anything else — but I dig Brant Bjork & the Bros.‘ Somera Sól (discussed here) a lot, so I’m just happy to have the excuse to put it on and vibe out for a bit.
Originally released in 2007, it was the final offering for Brant Bjork & the Bros. — see also 2005’s Saved by Magic — and it shared “Love is Revolution” with the acoustic-based Tres Dias (reissue review here), which sort of marks out that era of his work for me. The aughts, man. Simpler times. Remember when all we had to worry about was being at war for the rest of our lives? Alas.
Before I get too far off track, here’s info from the PR wire. Preorders are up, but even if they weren’t, you know how to get to Heavy Psych Sounds‘ store by now. If not, it’s super-easy:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records is really proud to presale the repress of the mighty album “SOMERA SOL” of the Lord of Coolness Brant Bjork
The release will see the light May 6th on Heavy Psych Sounds !!!
ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS221
USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm
RELEASED IN 15 TEST PRESS 150 SIDE A SIDE B = YELLOW + BLACK + RED 400 YELLOW BLACK DIGIPACK
Somera Sól is the second album from the stoner rock band Brant Bjork and the Bros. It features former Kyuss drummer Alfredo Hernandez and guest appearances by Sean Wheeler of Throw Rag and Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson. This is the second LP released by Brant Bjork in 2007 following the solo acoustic Tres Dias.
Tracklisting: SIDE A Turn Yourself On – 4:28 Love Is Revolution – 5:02 Shrine Communications – 4:03 Oblivion – 2:55 The Native Tongue – 5:04
SIDE B Freaks Of Nature – 5:49 Ultimate Kickback – 5:33 Chinarosa – 4:40 Lion Wings – 6:30
THE NEW INCEDIBLE ARTWORK HAS BEEN DONE BY BRANCA STUDIO.
***IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ***
THE PRESALE OF SOMERA SOL SUPPOSED TO START TOGETHER WITH “STONER-TOTALLY…” UNTIL THIS MORNING PRESSING PLANT TOLD US IT WOULDN’T MAKE IN TIME FOR THE SAME DATE BUT THE MIRACLE HAPPENED AND WE CAN FORTUNATELY PRESALE NOW TOGETHER
***FOR WHOM HAS PREORDERED ALREADY “STONER-TOTALLY…” YESTERDAY AND TODAY WE WILL CONTACT YOU BACK SOON AND WE WILL GIVE INSTRUCTIONS TO COMPLETE THE ORDER IF YOU WANT TO ADD THIS SUPER TITLE TO YOUR PURCHASE!***
