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Friday Full-Length: Leaf Hound, Growers of Mushroom

Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 5th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Leaf Hound, Growers of Mushroom (1971)

Among those who care about the genre in more than a passing way, there’s an ongoing debate about when “stoner rock” actually began. The same question applies to metal, other subgenres, life and any number of other things, so maybe that’s not a huge surprise, but people like to argue about things and that’s one of them. I usually fall into the Blue Cheer camp when it comes to that issue, that band’s focus on volume and heft being a pivotal influence, but there’s no question Leaf Hound‘s 1971 debut outing, Growers of Mushroom, was stoned as all anything. The UK five-piece — featuring vocalist Peter French, who’d go on within two years’ time to sing in both Atomic Rooster and Cactus and who serves as the lone remaining classic-era member in the modern incarnation of Leaf Hound — formed in 1969 under the name Black Cat Bones, and have ties to Free and Foghat in addition to the other acts mentioned. They were split up by the time they released Growers of Mushroom, but it’s an album that endured first on the collector market and then flourished again in the last decade or so thanks to reissues, internet word of mouth and an apparently decades-strong supply of swing.

Reasonably so. I wouldn’t call it the first stoner rock document, but easily one of the best early examples of the twist on heavy blues, acid rock and psychedelia that I’ve heard, classic cuts like “Freelance Fiend,” “Sad Road to the Sea,” the jamming “Work My Body,” riff-nodding “Drowned My Life in Fear” and “Growers of Mushroom” making for a delightful heavy vibe one can hear traces of in everything from Graveyard to CathedralLeaf Hound have been active the last several years, playing fests mostly, but also releasing the Live in Japan live record (review here) this year on Ripple Music, culling tracks from Growers of Mushroom and their earlier 2007 reunion album, Unleashed, for a surprisingly seamless blend that reinforced the timeless nature of heavy rock. As with the best of them, though, Growers of Mushroom stands alone both in their catalog and out of it, and as summer starts to wind down, it’s a last bit of warm weather to enjoy while we still can.

Hope you dig it.

I guess I wrote two reviews this week, the YOB and that Kind show, but I’m frustrated at not having done more. Need to find a way to balance my time more. So much news around here lately, and the scope of bands just keeps getting wider, but I’ve also got stacks of discs, folders clogging up my desktop, and at this point five or six vinyl records and a couple of tapes that need to get covered as well. I hate not being able to stay on top of it, how easy it is to get behind on that stuff when my brain gets burnt out. I’ve got two-weeks-plus of emails that need to get answered as well. Ugh.

Basically I’m frustrated that I didn’t get to review the new Earth record this week. Look for that on Monday or Tuesday.

Just applied for two editor-type jobs. Won’t get either, but screw it, at least I sent the resumé out, and somehow knowing that I’d be better at both those gigs than whoever’s brother-in-law is actually going to get hired for them is some measure of comfort. At this point it probably shouldn’t be, but it is.

On Monday, I’ll have that Old Testament track premiere, which is Jason Simon from Dead Meadow‘s new project. Might have a Larmon Clamor track by the week’s end too, but basically I want to get a couple reviews up, maybe that Godhunter/Secrets of the Sky tape and the new Steak in addition to that Earth. Pretty ambitious, I know. We’ll see how it goes.

Meantime, hope you have a great weekend, be safe, eat well, hydrate and whatnot. We’ll see you back here Monday.

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