Posted in Whathaveyou on April 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
This is one of the best lineups I’ve seen for a US-based heavy fest in the 15-plus years I’ve been running this site. I don’t know what else to say about it, honestly. For the fact that Ripplefest Texas is bringing Dozer over alone, let alone any of the other Euro acts involved who have, say, been to North America in the last 20-plus years, it’s astonishing. And not just bigger bands like Dozer and Truckfighters or Mars Red Sky and Belzebong, but Domkraft and Kal-El, bands you know if you’re into this thing but that haven’t been around as long and aren’t as ‘huge’ in the whatever sense that applies in underground music.
And it’s not like they’re skimping on within-US geography either. Of course the desert is well represented, and Texas has a significant presence as it invariably would, but with Gozu and Leather Lung headed out from Boston, Borracho traveling from D.C., Temple of the Fuzz Witch from Michigan, Robots of the Ancient World from Portland, Oregon, and so on, they’ve got all the corners and between pretty well covered. La Chinga coming from Canada. Demons My Friends giving Mexico a nod. It is extensive.
And quality. I don’t know that I’ll be there to see it, but I’d imagine that for most who get to be, it’ll be the stuff of legend. Congrats to Ryan Garney and Lick of My Spoon for bringing it into the world, and safe travels to all involved:
Here it is! The lineup for RippleFest Texas and the amazing art by Simon Berndt @1horsetown 🤘🔥❤️
We still have a few surprises left but this roster is stacked! Don’t miss your chance to see the world’s best heavy music at the largest family reunion of the year. Plus this is the ONLY premier festival that has absolutely ZERO OVERLAPPING so you can see every second of every band! Get your tickets now and we will see you in September!
Tier 2 tickets are almost sold out and the price increases on Monday so get your tickets now:
DOZER TRUCKFIGHTERS BONGZILLA MARS RED SKY BELZEBONG DOMKRAFT LEGIONS OF DOOM FATSO JETSON GOZU HOWLING GIANT THE HEAVY EYES HIGH DESERT QUEEN KAL-EL 20 WATT TOMBSTONE THE OTOLITH TEMPLE OF THE FUZZ WITCH LEATHER LUNG THUNDER HORSE HASHTRONAUT BONE CHURCH BORRACHO SUN CROW CRYSTAL SPIDERS TIA CARRERA ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD MR. PLOW LA CHINGA FOSTERMOTHER BLUE HERON TEMPTRESS FORMULA 400 DEMONS MY FRIENDS VERMILION WHISKEY VIOLET RISING HUDU AKIL BUZZ ELECTRO SHADOW OF JUPITER
GRAND FINALE w/ MARIO LALLI & THE RUBBER SNAKE CHARMERS “Desert Jam Session”
Plus the best light show in the business by @themadalchemistliquidliteshow
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
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
This makes at least 15 different kinds of sense, not the least after the High Desert Queen and Blue Heron split that Ripple put out. This just came down the PR wire. I’ve wracked my brain to find some deeper analysis, to have more thoughts later, but yes, of course it’ll work.
Euro tour dates impending, album news impending. Much to look forward to. No date yet on the album. “First half” below says May or June to me, which works timing-wise with the yet-TBA but sure to come European stint from Stoned from the Underground to Rock im Wald — Germany to Germany, which happens; they could likely fill two weeks in just the one country but more likely won’t — and of course frontman Ryan Garney books Ripplefest Texas as well, so they’ll be among the righteous hordes playing that. I aspire vehemently to attend. If you’ve got a spot with internet and a shower I can crash at, such knowledge would be appreciated, even if it’s a motel suggestion nearby in Austin.
Fresh news. I didn’t even have time to make the names and titles bold. The PR wire delivers with urgency:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN sign with Magnetic Eye Records
HIGH DESERT QUEEN have penned a multi-album deal with Magnetic Eye Records. The Texas desert rockers will release their second album via the label in 2024.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN comment: “We could hardly be more honored and humbled than to become a part of Magnetic Eye Records”, vocalist Ryan Garney writes on behalf of the band. “The label’s roster speaks for itself, and we did not hesitate when we were approached about signing. We love how eclectic their taste is and how many different styles are represented. Plus it doesn’t hurt that some of our favorite bands are already on the label. We feel that Magnetic Eye are the perfect fit to help us continue to grow our own style of Texas desert rock.”
Jadd Shickler extends his welcome: “It’s the holy grail of A&R to find an act whose ambition toward every aspect of being a band matches their stellar live performances”, the Magnetic Eye director comments. “High Desert Queen have only been around for a couple of years, but when I saw their rapid evolution and light-speed ascent by doing things that some groups never even bother to put their backs into, I came away with one certainty: this band will not be denied! High Desert Queen will play massive shows and burn the memory of their live energy into the minds of fans all over the world. Any label smart and lucky enough to strap in and take the ride with them is going to be part of something really special. I’m no dummy, so I made sure we were that label, and I can hardly wait for the scene to hear what a huge leap these guys made in the short time since their last record. To Morgan, Phil, Rusty, and Ryan: welcome to Magnetic Eye! We’ll do our best to keep up!”
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are 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 adding Phil Hook (MONTE LUNA) on drums 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 record deal for HIGH DESERT QUEEN. thanks in part to the help of 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 QUEENhit the roads of Europe as a headliner in June 2022, with a return to Europe 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 installment of the bestselling Magnetic Eye Records Redux series.
With more touring already on the horizon, HIGH DESERT QUEEN will release their sophomore full-length album via the label during the first half of 2024.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN live: 11-13 JUL 2024 Erfurt (DE) Stoned from the Underground 26-27 JUL 2024 Neuensee (DE) Rock im Wald 19-22 SEP 2024 Austin, TX (US) RippleFest
Line-up: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Pretty rad bill out of the gate for Rock Im Wald, which tops its thus-far bill with Danko Jones, who should be made an ambassador for Canada by now, as well as Sweden’s Graveyard, might-have-a-new-record-out-by-July UK stompers Orange Goblin, and the Brant Bjork Trio with its namesake on guitar and Mario Lalli on bass. Then you get into Planet of Zeus coming from Greece — maybe touring with Godsleep? — an appearance from The Devil and the Almighty Blues, which doesn’t happen all the time and you want to be there when it does, and the implied confirmation of summer European activity for High Desert Queen out of Texas, and it’s a win even before you get down to The Great Machine‘s madcap performance penchant, the upstarts Margarita Witch Cult, El Caco who released their first album in seven years in 2023, a partially-revamped Asomvel and Psychonaut‘s post-metallic texturing. It’s 13 bands. They’ve all got something going on.
The fest is set for July 25-27. Both SonicBlast and Hoflärm (in Portugal and Germany, respectively) are two weeks later, Aug. 8-10. Among the shared confirmations there are Brant Bjork Trio (who also announced a Spring run around the Desertfests and Sonic Whip) and Graveyard (for SonicBlast), so fair enough to expect tour announcements to come from them, and I’ll add Planet of Zeus and Margarita Witch Cult to that with an asterisk for ‘likely’ since of course I never actually know anything about anything.
There will be more to come, of course — it’s a three-dayer — and I’ll do my best to keep an eye out, but already there’s a lot to dig here. From socials:
We are delighted to present the first 13 bands for our Rock im Wald Festival 2024, taking place from July 25th to 27th. As always, we have once again given our best to offer you Rock’n Roll in its most beautiful facets. And there is more to come soon, of course. Finally, we aim to provide you with three festival days filled with musical surprises and highlights this year.
For those of you who are already convinced, you can now secure your tickets in our ticket shop, which can be found at the following link. https://rockimwald.de/ticket-shop/ Cheers & Peace Eure #RIW Crew
Line-Up so far: DANKO JONES | GRAVEYARD | ORANGE GOBLIN | BRANT BJORK TRIO | PLANET OF ZEUS | THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | THE GREAT MACHINE | PSYCHONAUT | EL CACO | ASOMVEL | GODSLEEP | HIGH DESERT QUEEN | MARGARITA WITCH CULT
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This past weekend was Ripplefest Texas, and I gotta say, even having gone to a fest last friggin’ week, I was looking hard at that lineup and thinking to myself it’d be awfully nice to see a whole bunch of West Coast acts I don’t normally see. Maybe next year.
Wait, who’s thinking about next year when the festival is barely done? They are. Ripplefest Texas 2024 is bringing over Dozer and Mars Red Sky — oh I hope they tour together — and will have The Skull-offshoot Legions of Doom, Boston’s Gozu, The Heavy Eyes, High Desert Queen, Bone Church, Blue Heron, Demons My Friends and, as you might guess looking at the packed lineup that was assembled for this year’s event, many more to come.
Honestly, you had me at eitherDozer or Mars Red Sky, but the appeal here goes well beyond those, and in a US festival sphere reeling without a major summer event or two this year it’s gotten pretty used to having around, Ripplefest seems to be stepping in at least to give the heavy rock end of the underground somewhere to flourish. I’ll be interested to see in the next two or three years how it will continue to grow, but also just for next year. I’d imagine there’s a whole bunch of people who’ve already made their travel plans to get to Austin. Can’t say I really blame you.
More to come as we get closer to a year from now, obviously, but they’re throwing down. Pretty sure those earlybird tickets are gone:
DATES AND FIRST BANDS ANNOUNCED FOR NEXT YEAR!
DOZER LEGIONS OF DOOM MARS RED SKY GOZU THE HEAVY EYES HIGH DESERT QUEEN BONE CHURCH BLUE HERON DEMONS MY FRIENDS
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The thing you’re gonna want to note here is ‘Part 1,’ as in, more touring is coming. Also, seems like a pretty safe bet that ‘we love beer and we’re going to make a documentary about drinking beer on tour’ is going to result in some watch-worthy shenanigans. What isn’t mentioned below, however, is that Austin-based go-go-go heavy rockers High Desert Queen have also been in the studio since they got back from their massive UK/Euro jaunt alongside Fatso Jetson and/or The Rubber Snake Charmers, recording new material, one assumes for the follow-up to their 2021 debut, Secrets of the Black Moon (review here).
Since that record came out, High Desert Queen have done precious little other than work their collective ass off touring, and that’s before you get to the fact that frontman Ryan Garney runs the completely-overwhelming-but-in-the-best-way-possible-looking RippleFest Texas. And already this year, the band paired with New Mexico’s Blue Heron for Turned to Stone Ch. 8 (review here), another installment in Ripple‘s ongoing series. Their tracks on there were held over from the sessions for the debut, however, so I’m looking all the more forward to hearing what’s coming next from High Desert Queen. A band doesn’t play live that much, tour that much, drink that much beer, and come out of it without some sort of creative growth. I bugged Garney for some comment on the recording process, and he was kind enough to oblige.
Probably won’t be 2024 before the album is out — just timing that guess based on seeing release announcements for October now and High Desert Queen aren’t there yet — but I bet that by whenever it shows up, the band have another tour or two under their collective belt, even after this one.
With the caveat of more to come, this from socials:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN – “BREWERY AND DIVE TOUR: PART 1”
We are getting back on the road! In case you didn’t know we love beer, and we will be filming a documentary where we be tasting beer at breweries all along our tour, including the ones we are playing! We can’t wait to get back on the road, meet new people and of course taste all that delicious beer! What city will you be having a beer with is?
Says Ryan Garney: “We are in love with getting on the road and after our 6 week European tour we are excited for our Brewery and Dive tour in the US. This will be the first part in a series of Brewery tours where we film a documentary of us trying beers and playing live. These brewery tours are essentially our dream tours as we love beer as much as we love playing live.
After our latest European tour we went straight into the studio. We recorded everything live, with no click track, and no punch-ins at an amazing studio in Texas called Yellow Dog. We created several new songs from scratch and can’t wait to share it so people can see what direction we’ve taken. This will be a heavy rock and roll record with plenty of Texas dirt mixed in!”
Date/City/Venue 7/26 Houston, TX Equal Parts Brewing 7/27 College Station, TX 101 Bar 7/28 Arlington, TX Division Brewing 7/29 San Angelo, TX The Deadhorse 7/30 Lubbock, TX Jake’s Sports Cafe & Backroom 8/1 Fort Collins, CO The Coast* 8/2 Colorado Springs, CO Vultures* 8/3 Denver, CO Skylark Lounge* 8/4 Albuquerque, NM The Historic El Rey Theater 8/5 Phoenix, AZ The Blooze Bar *w/ Blue Heron
[Click play above to stream High Desert Queen and Blue Heron’s Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake split LP in full. Album is out Friday on Ripple Music and available to preorder here for the US, here for Europe, and here on Bandcamp.]
It’s a quick listen to be sure at just 28 minutes, but Turned to Stone Chapter 8: The Wake, which follows a lineage of Ripple Music splits that goes back eight years to the beginning of a series called The Second Coming of Heavy that focused on then-up-and-coming acts like Geezer and Borracho, Red Mesa, Kingnomad, and so on. That series boasted 10 releases and Turned to Stone began in earliest 2020 with Mr. Bison and Spacetrucker (review here) and has continued to roll out two or three split LPs per year since, the latest bringing together Albuquerque desert grunge sludgers Blue Heron and Austin, Texas, purveyors of plus-sized riffs and melody High Desert Queen.
The reason the lineage is relevant — yea, one split begat another split and that split begat another split, on into biblical perpetuity — is that Turned to Stone Chapter 8: The Wake reminds distinctly of the prior series’ specific intent to bolster newer bands; a mission that it directly inherited. Both High Desert Queen (side A) and Blue Heron (side B) present three songs that arrive subsequent to their debut full-lengths, Blue Heron having released Ephemeral (review here) a year ago this week through Seeing Red Records and Kozmik Artifactz and High Desert Queen having made a justified splash on Ripple (pun absolutely intended) with late 2021’s Secrets of the Black Moon (review here), the recording sessions of which birthed the three songs included here.
Cohesion between the two bands in terms of sound isn’t hard to come by. Both are straightforward in their arrangements, putting weighted fuzz out front in their mix and backing it with mostly mid-tempo grooves, more nod than shove, and both have frontmen involved behind-the-scenes in the heavy underground, whether it’s Blue Heron‘s Jadd Shickler serving as a label manager for Ripple as well as Magnetic Eye Records (also under the SPKR Media umbrella, along with labels like Prophecy Productions, Testimony Records and others) and Blues Funeral Recordings (responsible for the PostWax series and releases this year alone from Dozer and Acid King, among others) or High Desert Queen‘s Ryan Garney heading the booking concern Lick of My Spoon Productions, putting on RippleFest Texas and slating shows and tours for his own band and others.
The fourth-wall-breaking, multi-tiered ‘scene’ contributions of Shickler and Garney give another dimension to Turned to Stone Chapter 8: The Wake — emblematic of the DIY manner in which heavy rock and roll has become what it is today; a worldwide subcultural phenomenon most people know nothing about — but none of it would matter as regards this split LP if the songs weren’t there. I’ll confess there was part of me hoping the High Desert Queen tracks — the mega-hooky “Black Moon,” the shorter, floating-but-not-an-interlude “Drift Into the Sun” and the telltale stoner boogie “Roll the Dice” — would be newer recordings, but one takes what one can get, and having “Black Moon” as a late-arriving semi-title-track from that album is welcome, the song fading in on feedback before its forward roll begins in earnest, a somewhat foreboding groove that turns out to be thick enough for everyone to ride opening up in the verse before the layered melody of the chorus.
Like the album from which they (didn’t) come, “Black Moon” and “Roll the Dice” — the lyrics in the latter seem to be the band asking themselves ‘should we go for it?,’ which is laughable with the hindsight of the two years they’ve spent mostly on tour in the US and Europe, where they’re touring even as this split is released — aren’t trying to play coy in their appeal. They make a space and fill it. “Roll the Dice” has an edge of metal in its post-solo finish, but never crosses over to outright aggression, and is much more a standout single in its impression than a leftover. “Black Moon,” with an even stronger hook at the outset, functions similarly, while “Drift Into the Sun” connects the two to create a sense of fluidity between them, strengthening and broadening the whole as a mini-EP on one side. Don’t be surprised when they show up as bonus tracks on the 10th anniversary reissue of Secrets of the Black Moon eight years from now.
Answering back with “Able Baker” (a Richard Scarry reference?), “Day of the Comet” and “Superposition,” Blue Heron run a thread between first-record-era Queens of the Stone Age in tone and oldschool sludge rock burl as guitarist Mike Chavez (who, like Shickler, was also in Spiritu), bassist Steve Schmidlapp and drummer Ricardo Sanchez smoothly establish themselves on side B. Immersion and atmosphere are prevalent as “Able Baker” runs through its five minutes, with a tonal-highlight of a solo in its second half answering the leads in its first, and melody met with due rhythmic force. “Day of the Comet” is deceptive in feeling looser but maintaining the strong grip on structure, and like High Desert Queen before them, Blue Heron cap with the speedier nod of “Superposition,” a righteous showcase that transposes Facelift-era Alice in Chains onto a foundation of modern heavy.
High Desert Queen and Blue Heron offer further complement to each other in the depth and apparent reach of their mix. Both bands sound big without being overblown or sacrificing craft to studio-born largesse. For committed heavy rockers or those who’ve followed along with the series, Turned to Stone Chapter 8: The Wake is a no-brainer. The kind of release you can pick up and see where it takes you. To those who are unfamiliar or have seen the names around but have yet to check out the songs, the sampler-style encapsulation of what they do is likewise convenient and actually-good. While they’re coming off their respective debuts, as noted, Blue Heron and High Desert Queen share a knowledge of what they want to accomplish in songwriting and performance, and that sense of control makes it that much easier as a listener to roll along to where the riffs are leading.
That destination might be the desert, if we want to talk about aesthetic, but the direction is forward, as both clearly have more to say than has been said here or on their respective first LPs. Ultimately stronger for its relative brevity, Turned to Stone Chapter 8: The Wake leaves the audience wanting more from one band and then the other, engaging with new takes on classic methods with a realized intent toward quality and fullness of sound. The only way to lose is by missing it.
Quotes from the bands, PR wire info, preorder and social links, etc., follow in blue:
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Ryan Garney on Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake:
“It’s an honor to share a split with Blue Heron. From the first time we saw this band play live we were immediately happy to do anything with these musical juggernauts. Incredible musicians and even better people. It’s also great to be able resurrect three songs from the dead. These 3 tracks didn’t make our debut record and we are happy they get to see the light of day in conjunction with three powerful songs from Blue Heron.”
Jadd Shickler on Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake:
“Split releases work best when there’s a reason for them to exist. It’s easy to slap two bands on a record to fill up the album sides, but when there’s something to connect them, that’s when a split makes sense. Blue Heron and High Desert Queen are both from the Southwest, we’ve both got a shared love of massive desert rock and, whether we intend it or not, a lot of grunge influences. We also dig them as people and as musicians. We welcomed them for their first out-of-state show at our 7-inch release gig in 2021, and they hosted us at Ripplefest Texas last year. We respect the hell out of their ambition, their musicality, and their dedication to huge riffs, so it’s a real pleasure to share this record with them. As for the songs, we put a bit of pressure on ourselves. Our debut album came out just a year ago, and we wanted to follow that with a batch of new tunes that are compact and fairly straightforward, but still show our love for starting a song in one place and ending up somewhere radically different.”
Pairing up two highly esteemed bands of the Southwest underground scene, “Turned To Stone Chapter 8” is a gigantic masterclass of heavy rock, with six tracks that will take you on a riff-fueled journey with no further ado! Between HIGH DESERT QUEEN’s versatile and massive-sounding heavy and BLUE HERON’s raucous and desert-shaped songcraft, it is no understatement to say that we are in presence of true forces of nature, an alliance between two up-and-coming greats of the US stoner and desert rock scene.
“Turned To Stone Chapter 8” will be available on May 26th in various vinyl formats as well as digitally, with preorders available now on Ripple Music. The artwork was created by award-winning comic and poster artist Johnny Dombrowski.
TRACKLIST: 1. High Desert Queen – Black Moon 2. High Desert Queen – Drift Into The Sun 3. High Desert Queen – Roll The Dice 4. Blue Heron – Able Baker 5. Blue Heron – Day Of The Comet 6. Blue Heron – Superposition
High Desert Queen: Morgan Miller – Bass Phil Hook – Drums Ryan Garney – Vocals Rusty Miller – Guitar
Blue Heron: Mike Chavez – Guitar Ricardo Sanchez – Drums Steve Schmidlapp – Bass Jadd Shickler – Vocals
