Posted in Whathaveyou on July 19th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Since July 11, a little over a week ago, Texas feelgood heavy rockers High Desert Queen have been on a European tour that’s included a stop at Stoned From the Underground and numerous other shows in and around Germany. The tour wraps up Aug. 3 and I assume they’ll fly home out of Schiphol in Amsterdam back to the US. Their arrival on US shores will give them about a month’s time to prepare to hit the road again, this time looping up the East Coast and into the Midwest for club shows and slots at Desertfest New York and the band-affiliated Ripplefest Texas, dates with Dozer and Gozu, Valley of the Sun and more. You would not accuse them of not putting in their time on the road. Or you could, I guess, but you’d be dumb and wrong to do so.
They go (and go, and go) in support of their second full-length, Palm Reader (review here), which came out in May as their first outing for Magnetic Eye Records, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they managed to sneak in a West Coast run over the coming winter as well. That’s how they do, and by any and all outward indications from the band, they actually enjoy it. Imagine that for a minute.
Then imagine that joy being shared from the stage, via riffs. Here are the dates:
FALL USA TOUR! This September we will be playing in cities we’ve never played in! Plus for the last half of the tour we will be supporting the legendary (and our good friends) Dozer. Check your local venues for tickets as these will go fast!
Which show will we see you at? 🤘🔥❤️
Sept. 5 Dallas, TX Three Links Sept. 6 New Orleans, LA Santos Bar Sept. 7 Chattanooga, TN The Dragon’s Roast Sept. 8 Asheville, NC. The Odd+ Sept. 9 Richmond, VA Another Round Sept. 10 Erie, PA Hippie and the Hound Sept. 11 Youngstown, OH Westside Bowl Sept. 12 Buffalo, NY Bugjar Sept. 13 Braintree, MA Widowmaker Brewing* Sept. 14 Queens, NY DesertFest NYC Sept. 15 Montreal, QC Piranha Bar* Sept. 16 Toronto, ON Garrison* Sept. 17 Grand Rapids, MI Pyramid Scheme* Sept. 18 Chicago, IL Reggie’s* Sept. 19 Lincoln, NB Reverb Lounge* Sept. 20 Oklahoma City, OK Resonant Head* Sept. 21 Austin, TX RippleFest Texas
Poster Art by f1ca_studio
Remaining European tour dates:
19/7 Leipzig, DE Kulturlounge 20/7 Munster, DE Rare Guitar 22/7 Bamberg, DE Live Club Bamberg 24/7 Göppingen, DE Gaststätte Zille 25/7 Karlshrue, DE Alte Hackerei 26/7 Neuensee, DE Rock im Wald Festival 27/7 Ulm, DE Hexenhaus 28/7 Cham, DE L.A. Club 29/7 Munich, DE Unter Deck 31/7 Ljubljana, SL Channel Zero 3/8 Amsterdam, NE De Tanker In Noord
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
The anticipated sophomore full-length from big-swing Austin, Texas, heavy rockers High Desert Queen, Palm Reader, is set to release May 31 through Magnetic Eye Records. And as the follow-up to 2021’s well-received Secrets of the Black Moon (review here) and the four-piece’s 2023 split with Albuquerque’s Blue Heron, Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake (review here) — both on Ripple Music — it answers the high expectations placed on it with organic craft and a focus on largesse that would seem to put the ‘Texas’ in the self-applied tag ‘Texas desert rock.’
That is to say, with Palm Reader, High Desert Queen are all in. There’s no sneering irony or pretense in the seven included cuts, and as heavy as they are, the vibe is positive even in the mellow first half of the penultimate “Tuesday Night Blues,” which is about as close to a comedown as the band — vocalist Ryan Garney (also of Lick of My Spoon Productions and the ‘head honcho’ of Ripplefest Texas), guitarist Rusty Miller, bassist Morgan Miller, drummer Phil Hook — get, and the collective pursuit of bigger riffs and nods comes through fluidly with an engrossing and reportedly live-performance-centered production by Casey Johns at Yellow Dog Studios in Wimberley, TX, and the subsequent mix/master at Tri-Lamb in Sweden by Karl Daniel Lidén (Greenleaf, Dozer, Katatonia, on and on) highlighting space and impact alike.
With “Ancient Aliens” and “Death Perception” — the latter featuring a duet with guest vocalist Emma Näslund of Gaupa, whom the band met in Stockholm at Truckfighters Fuzz Fest in late-2022 (review here) — at the outset, Palm Reader welcomes the listener into the set, digs in for the first of two nine-minute jammers without losing sight of the hook in “Head Honcho,” and never diverts from its central goals of conveying the band’s onstage energy and penchant for turning choice riffs into good times. If you come out the other side of the massive, increasingly-shoving chug that closes the album in “Solar Rain” — the other nine-minute jam — and say to yourself that High Desert Queen are a band you need to see live, then Palm Reader will likely have fulfilled the band’s mission for it.
It’s not that they’re reinventing their genre or enacting some kind of stylistic insurgency, but High Desert Queen came out of the gate knowing what they were about, and Palm Reader refines their songwriting while staying true to the core purpose. They’re not fixing what wasn’t broken, and the album isn’t just a succession of comfortably-paced lumbering nods and catchy rhymes — as the centerpiece title-track demonstrates with its funkier strut to finish side A with a kick of momentum picking up from the scorching last chorus of “Head Honcho” — but while their material is more about audience-communion than trying to convince anyone within earshot how clever or progressive or even original they are, the sincerity of their delivery and the natural flow that emerges within and between the songs make long-established methods feel fresh, vibrant.
Secrets of the Black Moon did this as well, and the difference might just be the result of High Desert Queen having spent so much of the time between their two-to-date LPs on various stages in various countries, but whether it’s the still-grounded, semi-psych delve in the build toward that climax in “Head Honcho” or the drums setting the start-stop-and-twist pattern for the thickened boogie of “Time Waster” at the start of side B, the songs come across as thoughtful without being overwrought and arranged in such a way as to carry the listener from one end to the other with an overarching movement that doesn’t undercut the impact of the individual pieces comprising it. There’s a sweet-spot for this in heavy rock and roll. High Desert Queen follow the riff to get to it and reside there for the duration.
And nothing they do throughout, from their most mountainous stretches to the screams capping “Solar Rain,” from the declarative nod and post-C.O.C. burl of “Ancient Aliens” to the way “Palm Reader” provides enough of a shift in method that they don’t need an interlude to break up the proceedings, takes away from the heart behind it. I wasn’t kidding above when I said “all in.” Whatever else it might accomplish in songwriting, performance or reach, Palm Reader sounds like nothing so much as a band giving everything they have to each moment of its making. That’s evident in Garney‘s echoing bellows and Miller‘s deceptively-classy soloing on “Time Waster” as well as the point where “Tuesday Night Blues” kicks in from its quieter, spoken-word-topped intro to set its course of fluid loud/quiet trades in motion, and comes to feel like no less of a priority than the heaviest of riffs at the album’s foundation. While certainly self-aware in the sense of knowing what it’s doing, where it’s going and how it’s getting there, Palm Reader is most of all driven by passion.
Of course, chemistry also helps, and even putting aside the fact that Rusty and MorganMiller are related by blood, High Desert Queen have plenty of it on offer as they align around this or that movement, shifting smoothly whether it’s from the verse to the chorus of “Ancient Aliens” or bringing the midsection cacophony of “Solar Rain” to a stop to let the guitar lay down the riff anchoring the mounting intensity of the record’s finish. Front to back, High Desert Queen neither overshoot nor undersell their marks, and Palm Reader is the kind of outing you could play for someone with no prior familiarity or association with underground heavy music as ready argument in favor of conversion. It’s kind of a party, and without seeming like dumbed-down-for-accessibility caricature, it works on its own level to assure that all who might hear it invited. Give it the proper volume and you might just end up making friends.
The e’er-crucial preorder link, live dates and more info follow the premiere of the lyric video for “Death Perception” in the embed below, courtesy of the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
High Desert Queen, “Death Perception” (feat. Emma Näslund) lyric video premiere
HIGH DESERT QUEEN’s sophomore full-length “Palm Reader” is bursting with raw energy and radiates the feeling of 666 diesel horses thundering loud. The album is crammed with cool vibes, ripping leads, and a ton of desert fuzz with a focus on great songs rather than trying to stay confined within a corral of a particular style.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN had what it takes to kick the scene into gear again. Their vast musical influences ranging from grunge to funk, old school metal to doom and much more provide an ideal foundation for new ideas and a rejuvenating approach to the genre. Their thunderous, fuzz-drenched anthems are delivered with a healthy dose of groove and catchy melodies, and get a massive boost from an emotional intelligence in their music that’s hard to find. The newly-minted sound is linked to the rich heritage of their environs, inspiring the style tag ‘Texas desert rock’.
Answering the exponentially multiplying requests for new material from their steadily growing following, HIGH DESERT QUEEN flanked their live activities with the “Turned to Stone Ch. 8” split release with BLUE HERON, and contributed a track to “Best of Soundgarden Redux”, the latest instalment of the bestselling Magnetic Eye Records Redux series.
With “Palm Reader”, HIGH DESERT QUEEN have made a quantum leap in their evolution as the Texans found the perfect balance between the well-loved legacy of the desert rock genre and carving out their very own path. Fueled by the power and spirit of live music, this album rocks as hard and honest as can be done.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN live: 24 MAY 2024 Lafayette, LA (US) Freetown Boom Boom Room 25 MAY 2024 Houston, TX (US) White Oak Music Hall 26 MAY 2024 Arlington, TX (US) Division Brewery 30 MAY 2024 Austin, TX (US) The Far Out Lounge 31 MAY 2024 Bryan, TX (US) The 101 01 JUN 2024 San Antonio, TX (US) The Amp Room 02 JUN 2024 New Braunfels, TX (US) Guadalupe Brewery 13 JUL 2024 Erfurt (DE) Stoned from the Underground Festival 26 JUL 2024 Neuensee (DE) Rock im Wald Festival 21 SEP 2024 Austin, TX (US) Far Out Lounge, RippleFest Texas
Line-up Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
High Desert Queen, “Ancient Aliens” official video
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 2nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Check out High Desert Queen, bringing hot-shit riffs and plenty enough for the whole class. If you were concerned of a sophomore slump from the Austin-based four-piece, I would think that between the first single “Ancient Aliens” and the C.O.C.-style groove of the today-unveiled “Time Waster” — the succession of one to the other could hardly be more appropriate; I definitely wasted a lot of time watching that show — there’s some measure of relief and rightly so.
My big question going into Palm Reader was how the band would internalize all the time they spent on stage in the wake of their Ripple-issued 2021 debut, Secrets of the Black Moon (review here), and I think you can see in both the self-awareness of the self-tag ‘Texas desert rock,’ employing the state as both an aesthetic entity and geographic locale, the drive toward recording live in the studio, and the resulting big, energetic and engaging sound of the tracks they’ve put out thus far, the answer to that is beginning to take shape.
I’ve got a track premiere slated for April 30, and not that I think anyone’s waiting for it, but I’ll review then as well — that’s a month before the record’s actually out, so still dumbass-early — but I can’t think of much one might ask an American heavy rock band to be that High Desert Queen either aren’t now or aren’t on their way to being.
From the PR wire:
High Desert Queen share “Time Waster” single from forthcoming Magnetic Eye Records debut
HIGH DESERT QUEEN’s sophomore full-length “Palm Reader” is bursting with raw energy and radiates the feeling of 666 diesel horses thundering loud. The album is crammed with cool vibes, ripping leads, and a ton of desert fuzz with a focus on great songs rather than trying to stay confined within a corral of a particular style.
This untamed attitude took its creative high energy source straight from touring. When the band from Texas returned home after six weeks travelling the roads of Europe with the legendary FATSO JETSON and watching them improvising jams every night, they had also taken notes. Although a bit worn from the road, HIGH DESERT QUEEN could hardly wait to start recording. Not focusing overly on how parts were played, allowing themselves imperfections, and ditching the click, the music started to flow like never before. In the very first studio session after the tour, three new songs emerged.
Working within a live framework and mindset, the band from Austin, Texas hit the jackpot and “Palm Reader” bears witness to that claim. In more than one way, HIGH DESERT QUEEN have always been a bit different and much more than ‘another desert rock band’. Formed in Houston, Texas by singer Ryan Garney and guitarist Rusty Miller in 2019, the duo soon recruited drummer Phil Hook (MONTE LUNA) and relocated to Austin in 2020.
With the addition of Rusty’s daughter Morgan on bass, the band hit the ground running. The lone star shone bright when these four got together as desert rock had already endured a long rather dry spell of stagnation and was parched for an injection of fresh sounds.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN had what it takes to kick the scene into gear again. Their vast musical influences ranging from grunge to funk, old school metal to doom and much more provide an ideal foundation for new ideas and a rejuvenating approach to the genre. Their thunderous, fuzz-drenched anthems are delivered with a healthy dose of groove and catchy melodies, and get a massive boost from an emotional intelligence in their music that’s hard to find. The newly-minted sound is linked to the rich heritage of their environs, inspiring the style tag ‘Texas desert rock’.
Hard work and their obviously burgeoning talent resulted in an fast rise for HIGH DESERT QUEEN, beginning with their first record deal arriving thanks in part to their being hand-picked by ZAKK SABBATH’s Rob Blasko. Their debut full-length “Secrets of the Black Moon” arrived in 2021 and was immediately heaped with praise in the US and Europe in 2021, which kicked the doors open to touring and invitations to prestigious festivals both domestic and abroad. In March 2022, the Texans embarked on their first tour in support of SASQUATCH on the US West Coast.
Only two months later, HIGH DESERT QUEEN hit the roads of Europe as a headliner in June 2022, with a return to the other side of the Atlantic with FATSO JETSON in 2023. Underlining the fast rise of this live monster, the newcomers were booked for Desertfest London (UK) and Berlin (DE) and the Truckfighters’ Fuzz Festival (SE) among many others.
Answering the exponentially multiplying requests for new material from their steadily growing following, HIGH DESERT QUEEN flanked their live activities with the “Turned to Stone Ch. 8” split release with BLUE HERON, and contributed a track to “Best of Soundgarden Redux”, the latest instalment of the bestselling Magnetic Eye Records Redux series.
With “Palm Reader”, HIGH DESERT QUEEN have made a quantum leap in their evolution as the Texans found the perfect balance between the well-loved legacy of the desert rock genre and carving out their very own path. Fueled by the power and spirit of live music, this album rocks as hard and honest as can be done.
Release date: May 31, 2024 Label: Magnetic Eye Records Style: Texas Desert Rock
HIGH DESERT QUEEN live: 23 MAR 2024 Austin, TX (US) The Lost Well +The Obsessed +Howling Giant +Gozu 24 MAY 2024 Lafayette, LA (US) Freetown Boom Boom Room 25 MAY 2024 Houston, TX (US) White Oak Music Hall 26 MAY 2024 Arlington, TX (US) Division Brewery 30 MAY 2024 Austin, TX (US) The Far Out Lounge 31 MAY 2024 Bryan, TX (US) The 101 01 JUN 2024 San Antonio, TX (US) The Amp Room 02 JUN 2024 New Braunfels, TX (US) Guadalupe Brewery 13 JUL 2024 Erfurt (DE) Stoned from the Underground Festival 26 JUL 2024 Neuensee (DE) Rock im Wald Festival 21 SEP 2024 Austin, TX (US) Far Out Lounge, RippleFest Texas
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I’d put the sophomore full-length from Austin, Texas, heavy rockers High Desert Queen, titled Palm Reader, among the year’s most anticipated LPs quickly enough. The four-piece issued their debut, Secrets of the Black Moon (review here), through Ripple Music in 2021 and immediately set about maximizing its impact with stage work. Tours in the US and Europe featured stops throughout 2022 and 2023 at Truckfighters Fuzz Fest (review here), Desertfest in London and Berlin, Ruination Festival, Esbjerg Fuzztival and others, and they have kept a steady social presence as well, with frontman Ryan Garney booking tours and running Ripplefest Texas under the banner of Lick of My Spoon Promotions. They have done more to push themselves and heavy rock in the last three years than most, and on top of that, the first record laid out a desert-informed take on heavy that was rife with personality.
Ahead of returning to Europe in Spring 2023, they released the Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake (review here) split LP with Albuquerque’s Blue Heron, and they’ll venture abroad again this summer as confirmed by appearances at the venerable Stoned From the Underground and Rock im Wald festivals slated among the tour dates below, following the regional — mostly Texas — stint they’ll do around Palm Reader‘s May 31 release on Magnetic Eye Records. No doubt more tour dates will follow, and suitably enough, they’ll perform at this year’s Ripplefest Texas as well, alongside Dozer, Mars Red Sky and what’s taken shape as one of the strongest heavyfest lineups I’ve ever seen in the US. They might tour around that too, even though they’re from Austin. Some bands just keep busy.
But future tour plans are secondary to the album announcement and first track streaming of today. “Ancient Aliens” — if you, like me, can see the guy from the History Channel in your head right now, we’re probably also hearing it said with the same sense of wonder — opens Palm Reader by building up around its riff and pushing through a multifaceted but accessible groove with what feels like energy born of and born for the stage. If live considerations were a factor in the songwriting, fair enough. I get big C.O.C. vibes off the guitar tone, but it’s got a modern and less-Southern forward roll to go with its hook and ample proportion of sound. If Palm Reader isn’t already among your own most anticipated 2024 albums, by the time they’re done riding that nod it might be. And if you need any more display of charm or effort-at-engagement or whatever it might be to get on board, the “Ancient Aliens” video is — inevitably — a They Live parody.
Info from the PR wire:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN release first single ‘Ancient Aliens’ and details of new album “Palm Reader”!
Texas desert rockers HIGH DESERT QUEEN release the video clip ‘Ancient Aliens’ as the first heavy single taken from their forthcoming sophomore full-length “Palm Reader”, which has been slated for release on May 31 via Magnetic Eye Records.
On further news, HIGH DESERT QUEEN announce the first set of many planned live dates for 2024. Please see below for all currently confirmed shows.
‘Ancient Aliens’ is a tongue-in-cheek video take on John Carpenter’s cult movie “They Live” that illustrates the difficulties for musicians in dealing with shifty managers.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN comment: “Our first new single ‘Ancient Aliens’ was also the first song that we recorded for the new album”, guitarist Rusty Miller explains. “When we just returned home from our 2023 summer tour, we were all still a little beat up and road worn. At the same time, we were completely fired up to be in the studio. Playing shows every night for six weeks gave us exactly what we needed for the new album. Our engineer Casey Johns did a great job capturing the raw energy and dynamics of our band with this song. We recorded it live without a click track and no overdubs to make it sound just how we play it live on stage.”
Tracklist 1. Ancient Aliens 2. Death Perception 3. Head Honcho 4. Palm Reader 5. Time Waster 6. Tuesday Night Blues 7. Solar Rain
Guest musician Emma Näslund (GAUPA) – vocals on ‘Death Perception’
Recorded by Casey Johns at Yellow Dog Studios, Wimberley, TX (US) Mixed & Mastering by Karl Daniel Lidén at Studio Tri-Lamb, Solna (SE)
Cover art & album design by PabloRR (72826). Photo by @staceylovett
HIGH DESERT QUEEN live: 23 MAR 2024 Austin, TX (US) The Lost Well +The Obsessed +Howling Giant +Gozu 24 MAY 2024 Lafayette, LA (US) Freetown Boom Boom Room 25 MAY 2024 Houston, TX (US) White Oak Music Hall 26 MAY 2024 Arlington, TX (US) Division Brewery 30 MAY 2024 Austin, TX (US) The Far Out Lounge 31 MAY 2024 Bryan, TX (US) The 101 01 JUN 2024 San Antonio, TX (US) The Amp Room 02 JUN 2024 New Braunfels, TX (US) Guadalupe Brewery 13 JUL 2024 Erfurt (DE) Stoned from the Underground Festival 26 JUL 2024 Neuensee (DE) Rock im Wald Festival 21 SEP 2024 Austin, TX (US) Far Out Lounge, RippleFest Texas
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
