I distinctly remember when Toronto’s Quest for Fire released their self-titled debut in 2009, in no small part because I utterly whiffed on it. Brutally. The label behind the release, New York’s much-respected Tee Pee Records, had just switched their promo methodology to sending CDs in a generic digipak for review, and I was bummed about that, because artwork, etc. And so, when it came time to dig into the self-produced six-track/43-minute outing from the heavy psychedelic rockers — the album’s lineup: Chad Ross (ex-The Deadly Snakes, also Nordic Nomadic, Comet Control and solo work as C.Ross) on guitar, vocals and Korg, Andrew Moszynski (Comet Control) on guitar, Josh Bauman (Nordic Nomadic) on bass, Mike Maxymuik (ex-Cursed, ex-Black Mountain) on drums, plus here Will Kidman on keys and Matt Carlson (who also engineered) on harmonica — I let it go. I don’t have another way to say it. Sometimes the thought of listening, liking, buying one more good record is exhausting. Right or wrong, I didn’t have room in my heart for Quest for Fire‘s Quest for Fire.

Wrong, decidedly.

As a matter of self-defense from myself, it wasn’t all that long before I got on board. Quest for Fire‘s second record, 2010’s Lights From Paradise (review here), was an admirably languorous work of lush, resonant, and melodic psych. Not without its more active moments, but defined by the serenity overarching its procession, Ross‘ mellow vocals giving even the brashest stretches a peaceful vibe. In an interview here in 2021, Ross talked about the rougher edges and more nebulous definition (paraphrasing) of Quest for Fire‘s early days, the jams from which the first album was born, and indeed the self-titled carries a looser construction than the record that followed in such short order.

This becomes a boon to the songs quickly as four-minute, comparatively taut careening opener “Bison Eyes” prefaces the new space rock by hailing the old, showing punker roots in the riff, but immediately rich in tone in a way that’s atmospheric even with the tempo. Lead guitar notes float over the thrust, and the backbeat holds behind the swirl of the last verse and chorus, taking some influence from heavy rock but using it toward decidedly more molten ends, and when it’s done, “Strange Waves” complicates the plot with hints of a Western ramble next to languid, addled chug with acoustic guitar (and Carlson‘s echoing harmonica) laced through, complementing the bottom-end heft with a sense of lightness as would become an essential facet of Quest for Fire‘s work during their time, and building to a roll across its seven and a half minutes that’s glorious in its payoff, pointedly slower than “Bison Eyes” and a classic example of a band leading off with a rocker and then pulling the floor out from under their listener. One can’t hear some Dead Meadow-style fuzzgaze in “Hawk That Hunts the Walking” (8:44) at the end of side A manifest in the wah soloing and verses, but the chorus has a layered, complex melody of its own, and there’s more depth to it than just that as they cycle through quieter and louder parts, keeping the nod of “Strange Waves” from the outset and holding forth a kind of glacial momentum as they solo to the finish from which side B’s “I’ve Been Trying to Leave” crashes in. Well hello.

If you’ve been hanging in this far, congratulations. Quest for Fire‘s spacious mix has plenty of room for the listener the burrow themselves into, but lacks nothing for impact, whether it’s Maxymuik‘s snare or Bauman‘s bass underscoring “Strange Waves,” and the second half of the album continues with a mind toward expansion of sound. At 6:16, “I’ve Been Trying to Leave” realigns more toward the straightforward, like a funhouse mirror of how “Bison Eyes” started off, manipulated in its purposes to its own ends as it imagines a psychedelic post-hardcore the likes of which a band might’ve made an entire career out of. Swirl and churn and melody and charge are all accounted for, and as with side A, the two longer cuts that follow — “You Are Always Loved” (7:23) and the closer “Next to the Fire” (9:08) — draw from the well of energy established just prior.

Quest for Fire didn’t invent this methodology, but they employ it well on their first LP, and it gives “You Are Always Loved” the freedom to be as subdued as it wants without entirely losing the balance of motion in the material. There are subtler ebbs and peaks in the first half of the track, a fuzzy solo and acoustic/voice finish, and the abiding kindness of the lyrical reassurance feels like part of the ambient breadth; a sweet herald of things to come, both in Quest for Fire and in Ross and Moszynski‘s subsequent outfit, Comet Control, and in the former’s songwriting more generally. Such moments of a band ‘figuring it out’ aren’t always so palpable, but they’re making a home in the nebulous range of “You Are Always Loved,” and the space left open as the title-line is delivered underscores the point.

That leaves “Next to the Fire” as both last and longest of Quest for Fire‘s inclusions, and it buzzes to life around an accordingly large roll. The wah’s on, the cymbals crashing, the movement forward and at a more active tempo as they shift into the verse around twists of lead and echoing vocal lines. “Next to the Fire” is more brash, but like “Hawk That Hunts the Walking,” is leant a more individual impression by Ross‘ breathy delivery, which in the second half becomes the calm around which the storm is rotating. They end with noise and a wisp of synth, which is fair enough, and leave the listener with an in-the-room feel as regards dynamic, their chemistry established unflinchingly across a swath of well united moods and immersive sounds.

I won’t say I’ve been avoiding Quest for Fire‘s Quest for Fire for the last 15 years, because I’ve listened to it plenty in that span if less than its follow-up, but digging into the songs again, I retain my sheepishness at having skipped out initially, much to my own loss. The band would be done in 2013 and Comet Control picked up from there with their 2014 self-titled debut (review here), which brought new direction to what Quest for Fire had built. In addition to serving as a refresher at how underrated this band was, I guess the hindsight is a reminder that music, art and so much else in life doesn’t have an expiration date, no matter what capital-driven internet-era FOMO would tell you otherwise. Maybe you’ll hear it now, maybe you heard it then, maybe you’ll hear Quest for Fire‘s self-titled in another 15 years. There’s comfort knowing it’ll still be there, whenever you need it.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

This week was Xmas. We hosted Xmas Eve for my family on Tuesday, a casual thing. Thanksgiving was a big sit-down dinner, this was mellower. My sister, her husband and one of their sons were all sick, so my mother and one of my nephews came, along with my sister’s in-laws (who also live in the neighborhood) and a couple of local cousins. It was pleasant and relatively low-key. The plan had been to go to my mother/sister’s house for Xmas Day, but that was canceled; still sick. Yesterday I ended up taking my nephew (who is 16 and just getting into metal; drop your recommendations in the comments) to the video game store, and that was fun, and today The Patient Mrs.’ mother, sister, and her two kids are coming down today to stay over to tomorrow and do a delayed celebration either tonight or tomorrow I don’t really know. All the while, The Pecan is off from school and spending much time on the iPad in the mornings, though yesterday we also spent like two hours at an indoor play-place in Fairfield called FunTime Junction — we were like the only ones there for an hour; it was great — where we’ve been a bunch of times, so trying to keep a balance in the activity level as much as possible in the cold. It snowed on Monday and Tuesday.

So that was the holiday. Being spectacularly broke, it was not a huge splash of presents. I asked The Patient Mrs. what she wanted, she wanted socks. I bought her the socks she wanted. I also got socks, a case of Topo Chico (which is kind of a gag gift, but also pretty good if you like spending $2.50 for a bottle of seltzer), and the Final Fantasy VII/VIII remaster for Switch. Not the VII remake for PS5 or whatever, the original games, which I bought somewhat for posterity because I figured I’d want to play VIII again eventually, ever, at some point, and the likelihood of finding the four-disc PS1 version I bought in 1999 alongside a new tv specifically purchased to play that game with money I earned stocking shelves at KB Toys Store #1051 in on Rt.10 & 202 in Morris Plains, NJ — roughly a minute from where I now live — is probably on par with my likelihood of finding that tv. I started a new game, got killed by the big dinosaur early on, and nostalgia ensued. I’ll call it a win.

It was a relatively quiet week around here, but I’m glad to have gotten the reviews up that I did for The Whims of the Great Magnet and West, Space and Love — two 2024 releases I definitely wanted to cover before crossing the admittedly arbitrary line of the New Year. Happy New Year, by the way. I’m taking off Jan. 1 and will try to put together the poll results. If I can do it in one day, I’ll post accordingly, but don’t count on it. Not that you’re holding your breath, but I kind of am. The difference between first and second place is four votes. That’s tighter than it’s been in years. Every vote counts.

Kind of a rough morning so far as The Pecan has decided she no longer wants her meds in a mashed banana and so a pivot is required to whatever the next fucking thing that will spark minimal cooperation might be. A bribe? Some complicated performance aspect? Who knows, but rest assured, it’s fucking always something and generally an argument. It’s nine in the morning and I’ve already been punched today, which doesn’t happen every day anymore but still sucks for sure and has a tendency to sour one’s mood. I’ll eat a gummy and chill out, shower and have breakfast. Just feels shitty to feel like I need to redirect my own morning before it’s really even started, no less with company coming and all that. I don’t know. Small bumps in the big picture, but they add up.

That’s a bummer note to leave on, so let’s look at next week. Monday is a Darsombra video premiere if I get the video in time. Thursday I have a full premiere for the second Pontiac record. I need this weekend to write a bio for the new 16 album, which is rad, and there’s still news to catch up on forever, so that.

Whatever you’re up to, have a great and save weekend. Don’t forget to hydrate, especially if you’re hitting it to ring in 2025, and watch your head. I’m gonna go bathe for the first time since, I think, Tuesday, and get my head right. Thanks again for reading.

FRM.

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[Click play above to stream C.Ross’ Skull Creator in full. Album is out July 13 on Echodelick Records, Noise Agony Mayhem, Party Product and Ramble Records.]

C.Ross is a new not-quite-solo incarnation of guitarist, singer and songwriter Chad Ross, best known these days as the frontman for Toronto cosmic blissmakers Comet Control, also formerly of Quest for Fire and The Deadly Snakes, and Skull Creator is the first outing under the new nom de plume. In the past, Ross has issued material apart from bands under the guise of Nordic Nomadic, with at least two full-lengths out in a 2007 self-titled (there are still CDs on Bandcamp; I just bought one and you can too) and 2011’s Worldwide Skyline (review here), which served as something of a bridge as regards studio work between the then-coming end of Quest for Fire, who’d still play live into 2012 before breaking up in earliest 2013, and the beginning of Comet Control that same year.

How, then, is C.Ross not Nordic Nomadic? Two things. First, 2011 was 11 years ago, and sometimes you decide to put something in your own name, or at least closer to it. Second, the recording situation and other players involved is different. Though Ross is certainly the defining presence of Skull Creator‘s eight songs and 44 minutes, his layered vocal harmonies and quiet guitar are rarely alone, as even “The Stranger” is fleshed-out with his own Mellotron-style keyboards, often subtle but definitely there bass, and drums by Joshua Wells (Destroyer, Lightning Dust, ex-Black Mountain), who is the other key contributor, handling production, percussion, the mix, more keys, drums, and so on.

The first thing one hears upon clicking play or lowering the needle, is, in fact drums leading into “Buzzin’ in the Bush,” which feels like a conscious decision even if it wasn’t on the part of Ross as figurehead of the project to immediately shift expectation away from solo-acoustic singer-songwriterism. As drifty and serene as Skull Creator gets between the swelling key-strings of “Takin’ a Dip” and the chirping crickets of side B leadoff “On Golden Pond,” there’s always more going on than guy-and-guitar navelgazing.

Aaron Goldstein‘s pedal steel, as heard echoing in the distance of closer “Tracks in the Snow,” adds to the lush ambience there, and Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless, The Black Crowes, etc., also contributes guitar to “Buzzin’ in the Bush,” “Skull Creator” and “On Golden Pond,” not having taken part in the writing but making a mark nonetheless as one might expect. All of this works out to a style that is sublimely mellow, even at its most active points — the tambourine and guitar finish of “Buzzin’ in the Bush” might qualify, or the relatively uptempo second half of the penultimate “Way Too Nice” — and an acid folk rock spirit that is decidedly Ross‘ own.

Those who’ve followed his work over the last decade-plus through Quest for Fire and Comet Control if not also Nordic Nomadic will find Skull Creator recognizable from the vocal melodies alone, as Ross‘ voice, with a breathy, almost sleepy delivery and ready to either stand on its own or add to a wash, doing both on “Wrong Side of the Sky” here with clearer early verses and Wells‘ drums guiding the listener through the layered reaches that comprise most of the song’s second half, pedal steel and all.

And the persona is different because so are the players involved, but the foundational movement of “Skull Creator” itself — the longest inclusion at 7:24 and the end of the vinyl’s side A — resonates along a similar wavelength as some of Quest for Fire‘s work in its bridging of psych, fuzz and folk, but the backing lines of synth, keys, guitar effects, whatever it is, that helps craft that languid roll that defines the song and seems to hit the first of two crescendos right as it approaches its midpoint en route to a dug-in, ultra-fluid light-footed march for the duration, drawing from heavy psych tenets while holding to its wistful spirit overall.

Thinking of “Skull Creator” as a summary for the album that shares its name, it doesn’t quite represent everything on offer in the snare work of “Takin’ a Dip,” the already-noted nature sounds and the suitably wet guitar reverb of “On Golden Pond,” and the almost foreboding would-be-cello-but-is-either-synth-or-bass drone that emerges in the first half of “Tracks in the Snow” and returns to bolster the finish, but it’s a significant sprawl just the same, and the leads into it from the relatively forward “Wrong Side of the Sky” and out of it from the soft guitar intro to “The Stranger” — following the side flip, if you’re listening to the LP — hold together the flow of Skull Creator as an entire work, which is pivotal to the overarching impression made.

About that. It may take repeat listens to let the songs sink in on their own, the ways in which they function together and their individual purposes. The ramble in “Buzzin’ in the Bush” and its casual counterpart “Takin’ a Dip” in the opening salvo — the two shortest cuts save for “Way Too Nice” (4:21) near the end — set up a pastoralism even as they so completely push back on any expectation of solo folk fare. Not that one person can’t be an entire band, just that Skull Creator works quickly to establish that that’s not what’s happening with C.Ross. The Beatlesy turn in “Takin’ a Dip” just after the stop at 3:14 underscores the point of a full-group realization happening, and however it was put together, in layers across different locales or altogether with Wells at the Balloon Factory in Vancouver.

Even when it’s just Ross and Wells, as on “Takin’ a Dip,” “The Stranger” or “Way Too Nice,” that feel is maintained as a uniting factor across material that is varied in mood but drawn together by its open atmosphere and a level of craft colorful enough to suit daytime or night airings, those insects in “On Golden Pond” complementing a sunset-on-water shimmer and the cool nighttime air that follows. Similar evocations of place, time and mind take place throughout Skull Creator, and though Ross has posited that he started the album as a way of “making fun of myself,” the sincerity of the record’s and his expressiveness in doing so are unquestionable. Is it a walk in the woods? Fire crackling with fresh wood? Wherever you find yourself, the point is getting there.

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Chad Ross — not quite based in Toronto anymore, but forever adjacent to that city’s weirdo psych scene owing to his work with Comet Control and Quest for Fire — will release his new not-quite-solo album, Skull Creator, on July 13 under the banner of C.Ross. And not to bury the lede here, but the record also features Isaiah Mitchell of Earthess, which you don’t need me to tell you is a monster pairing. The inclusion of pedal steel throughout — something that should be familiar to those who know Ross‘ output with the aforementioned bands — and drums lends a further full-band vibe to the eight-song release, and, well, it’s just lovely. It’s summer sunshine, is what it is.

Ross and I spoke for the last Comet Control LP (interview here) and he noted a new solo album was in the works, so I guess that turned into this. His last solo offering was issued as Nordic Nomadic in the form of 2011’s Worldwide Skyline (review here), so fair to say he’s due. And if you have time and feel like Bandcamp hunting — yes, you do — open up a new tab each for the labels that are putting out Skull Creator and find all kinds of righteous treasure. You will see the mountain of relevant links below. Safe travels on that journey.

I’ll hope to have more to come, but for now, this from the internets:

Toronto Music Scene Stalwart Chad Ross (Quest for Fire / Comet Control) Releases Psych-Folk Solo Album as C.ROSS

“Skull Creator” is the new solo record by Canadian singer/guitarist C.Ross, better known as Chad Ross, who currently fronts Toronto psych rockers Comet Control (Teepee Records). The new record features eight genre-stradling songs of americana tinged folk-rock, while hinting at Ross’s fuzzy psych-rock past. Recorded, produced and mixed by Joshua Wells (Lightning Dust, Destroyer, Black Mountain) at the Balloon Factory in Vancouver, British Columbia (the home studio of Dan Bejar of Destroyer), the new album “Skull Creator” was written at first as a solo acoustic project. When Destroyer’s Joshua Wells joined in on both drums and keys and Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless, Golden Void, the Black Crowes) on guitar, with Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel, the project morphed into a sweet psych-folk adventure.

Speaking of the hauntingly powerful album, Ross states: “I had it in my head that I was gonna make an acoustic record, with the sole purpose of making fun of myself, reflecting on a few of my past wasted lives and just generally taking the singer/songwriter thing out with the trash. The lyrics all made me laugh at one point, but when Josh and Isaiah got involved, things got elevated…. as they tend to do with musicians like that.”

Ross has spent years navigating the Canadian music scene as the singer/ guitarist for heavy psych rockers Quest for Fire (Teepee), solo acoustic as Nordic Nomadic (Blue Fog, Teepee), a member of legendary garage rock band The Deadly Snakes (In the Red) and a touring member of Vancouver’s Pink Mountaintops. Get your hands on his newest project which branches off from these influences and shows his maturing songcraft into psych-folk territory. “Skull Creator” is available July 13, 2022 as an LP co-release on Atlanta’s Echodelick Records, Canada’s Noise Agony Mayhem and Australia’s Ramble Records. Available digitally on Party Product Records.

https://www.instagram.com/cxrossx
https://www.facebook.com/CROSS-108600211859381
https://twitter.com/roycrossmusic
https://nxnx.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/ERECORDSATL
https://www.instagram.com/echodelickrecords/
https://echodelickrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.echodelickrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/NoiseAgonyMayhem-184985055235909
https://www.instagram.com/noiseagonymayhem/
https://noiseagonymayhem.bandcamp.com/artists
https://noiseagonymayhem.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Ramble-Records-104456548098088
https://www.instagram.com/ramble_records
https://ramblerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://ramblerecords.com/

https://partyproductrecords.bigcartel.com/

Quest for Fire, Lights from Paradise (2010)

The six years since its release have done little to dull the luster of Lights from Paradise (review here), the second full-length from Toronto heavy psych conjurers Quest for Fire. Offered up through Tee Pee Records, its eight tracks continue to stand out for their lush tones, melodic resonance and memorable craftsmanship, and in their peaceful, patient approach, Quest for Fire distinguished themselves from the jammier tenets of post-krautrock Europsych and from the focus on heft that propelled much of what was happening in North America at the time. From the gentle opening of “The Greatest Hits by God” through the soaring guitar apex of closer “Sessions of Light,” Lights from Paradise stayed conscious of the spaces it was exploring, and assured the listener followed the band through a series of subtly infectious hooks, the shoegaze-style vocals of guitarist Chad Ross keeping the flow consistent on the more active “Strange Vacation,” the shuffling “Set out Alone” and “In the Place of a Storm,” the entire outing as molten as it was dreamy. As it still is dreamy.

I was fortunate enough to see Quest for Fire early in 2012 (review here), as they were supporting Naam and Monster Magnet, and though they were missing bassist Josh Bauman, who plays on the record, guitarist Andrew Moszynski, Ross (covering on bass), and drummer Mike Maxymuik (ex-Cursed) held true to the fluid vibe of this outing. When the album came out, I attributed some of its laid back sensibility to a Dead Meadow influence, which I stand by, but the depth of what Lights from Paradise has to offer by no means ends there. To wit, “Confusion’s Home,” which ends the first half of the record, brings down the uptick of pace from “Set out Alone” and “Strange Vacation,” but the softer roll that takes hold as Ross asks the question, “What’s another word for ‘being alive?'” and the interplay of acoustic and electric guitars, ride cymbal and underlying bass rumble is like jumping into warm water. Through side B opener “In the Place of a Storm,” the folkish “Psychic Seasons” and the build of “Hinterland Who’s Who,” Quest for Fire show breadth of style even as they affirm the core vibe, and the nine-minute “Sessions of Light,” with its “I Want You/She’s so Heavy”-worthy leads, is as glorious a finish as one could possibly ask.

Sadly, as much as Lights from Paradise seemed to mark the arrival of a band whose work could’ve become a representative staple of Canadian psychedelia, it would be Quest for Fire‘s last. The band broke up in 2013. By then, Ross had already released his Worldwide Skyline (review here) album with solo-outfit Nordic Nomadic, and the self-titled debut from Comet Control (review here), with Ross and Mosyznski (who also plays in Wrong Hole), surfaced in 2014, also on Tee Pee. That album took them to Europe alongside labelmates Harsh Toke, and the group recently teased the prospect of a follow-up with the inclusion of the space-rocking new track “Axid Rain” on Who Can You Trust? Records‘ Sweet Times Vol. 4 split. What their plans for the future might be, we’ll have to see when we get there.

—

Closing out the week and not really closing out the week at the same time, since as I type this I’m waiting for Psycho Las Vegas to announce the last of its headliners. Of course, today is April Fools, so maybe it’s coming and maybe it’s not, but either way, I’m keeping an eye out and will post accordingly.

Tomorrow I’m going — yes, I’m really going — to see Bongzilla with Black Cobra, Kings Destroy and Lo-Pan in Somerville, MA. The Obelisk is presenting the show (info here). You should come too.

I’m overdue for a podcast, and after the Quarterly Review this week, there’s plenty of stuff I’d like to share, so I’ll see if I can’t make that happen, but in addition to the review of tomorrow’s show, which I’ll post on Monday, I’ve also got a video premiere for Will Z., followed by a full-album stream from Red Wizard on Tuesday, a full EP stream from Cities of Mars on Wednesday, maybe a track premiere on Thursday and likely a full-album stream from Henryspenncer on Friday, so it’s pretty packed. Oh, and there’s an interview with Holy Grove that needs to go up too.

Speaking of the Quarterly Review — if you got to check out any of that, thank you. Those things are a genuine challenge to put together, but the opportunity to cover a range of stuff that I might not be able to otherwise is too much to let slip by. I’ll have the next one in late June/early July. I haven’t started planning it yet, but soon.

Hope you have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and the radio stream.

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Put this one in your “Oh, What Could’ve Been” file. According to a post on their Thee Facebooks page, Toronto-based psychedelic dreamers Quest for Fire have decided to abandon the search. We told them that it’s winter and all our caveman asses will freeze if they don’t keep going, but then they reminded us that it’s the future and to go adjust the thermostat. Still a bummer.

If you never heard it, Quest for Fire‘s last album, 2010’s Lights from Paradise (review here), was frickin’ brilliant, all hazed out and shoegazing but thick in the low end and memorably hypnotic. It’s a shame they won’t get to follow it up, though I suppose if Chad Ross decides to dedicate more of his time to his Nordic Nomadic side-project — he released Worldwide Skyline in 2011 (review here) — that’s not exactly a tragic fate either.

Whatever happens, Quest for Fire was a good band and too bad they didn’t get to do more in their time. Please find the announcement in full below, its lack of capitalization maintained for posterity:

after 6 amazing years we have officially decided to call it quits. sorry to all the kind folks out there that were expecting a new record in 2013…. but we promise you, a few new bands are already in the works. good things on the horizon!

lots of great tours, good friends (old and new), good jams, heavy parties, and long roads, will be filed away, forever foggy and shining in our collective memories.

thanks for the love! QFF.

our last show will be at the horseshoe tavern in toronto, on february 15, 2013. some special guests will be announced shortly.

There was a moment, as I made my way around the block of North 6th St. in Brooklyn last Friday night, that I thought I’d never be able to find parking, and that I would just spend the rest of my days driving in that circle, like something out of The Twilight Zone. Maybe it would be some bitterly ironic punishment for having one time inadvertently dicked someone out of a spot, masterminded by that person secretly like Saw. I don’t know. Either way, I was sure I’d never get to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in time to see Monster Magnet, Naam or Quest for Fire, let alone LadyKiller, who were opening the show.

Turns out the opener was the only act I actually missed. I wound up finding a spot right outside the Academy Records Annex and rushed down the block to the venue with just enough time to spare to get my ticket and head in for the start of Quest for Fire. I felt like I lucked out. The room wasn’t too full as they got going, and as they opened with “Greatest Hits by God” from 2010’s Lights From Paradise (review here), it seemed like the universe was suddenly in the business of doing me personal favors. Amazing how fickle luck can feel.

I remembered standing outside the Bat Cave at Roadburn while Quest for Fire played, getting up on the bench along the wall opposite the open door of the room and trying at least to soak in some of their set and being tragically unsuccessful. To see them now, especially alongside labelmates Naam, was enough for me to make the difference between catching Monster Magnet in Brooklyn or going one night later to see them at the Starland Ballroom on a bill populated by pay-to-play openers. Seems like an easy call, but when you factor rolling into Williamsburg on a Friday night, you gotta really like Quest for Fire to make that weigh out.

Playing on Naam‘s equipment, the Toronto psych rockers justified the trip — both mine and theirs. Their songs were heavier in person, and rawer without the layering that comes through so lush on Lights From Paradise and its 2009 self-titled predecessor. Part of that is probably due to the fact they were down a guitar. Chad Ross, who also handles vocals, was playing bass, but even with just Andrew Moszynski‘s guitar, their psychedelia was subdued and moody where it wanted to be and never out of control when heavy, and drummer Mike Maxymuik gave each piece a dynamic pulse.

When they finished, I went out front to look for their merch, hoping to find a copy of Worldwide Skyline from Ross‘ solo-project, Nordic Nomadic, or maybe some other goodies, but no such luck. Monster Magnet had a tour-exclusive EP called Dopes for $15 that I’m still not quite sure why I didn’t buy, and neither Quest for Fire or Naam had anything for sale. Oh well. I didn’t get a shirt either. Or beer. All things considered, it was a pretty austere night. A $4 bottle of water and gas on the way home. Go figure.

Having seen them twice at Santos Party House in Manhattan last year (here and here), I knew enough to be sure Naam would do well in the role of the hometown heroes, and joined by the keys that seem to be more and more a regular fixture, they did just that. I had been hoping for some new material and it came in the form of “Starchild,” the title-track of their next EP, reportedly due in May. I’d heard the song live before, but it’s grown some in the months since, both in jammed-out presence and actual length. Naam have done a fair amount of touring at this point (most recently in Europe with Black Rainbows), and it showed in their performance.

They didn’t play many songs for time constraints, but guitarist/vocalist Ryan Lugar seemed more at ease on stage and bassist Ryan Preston Bundy‘s vocals were both better mixed and more confident than any other time I’ve been fortunate enough to see the band play. If they’re the hometown heavy psych heroes, it’s because of the wandering they’ve done in the past.

And maybe it’s just because with the Monster Magnet kit backlined behind him he was pushed further toward the front of the stage, or maybe it was following Maxymuik, but drummer Eli Pizzuto seemed to be especially crisp in his performance. Through the newer stuff and Naam‘s standard closer, “Kingdom,” from the EP of the same name, his fills served more than basic percussive function, and his focus was intense to the point of intimidation. While Lugar had his sway to the riffs and Bundy was ready at a moment’s notice to tilt his head back and hoist his beard aloft like an offering to the gods of facial hair who’ve blessed him with it, Pizzuto a little bit looked like he wanted to kick someone’s ass, and the variation in stage presences among the four players on stage only enriched the experience of their set.

It was almost like two shows rolled into one, though. You had Naam and Quest for Fire on one side, and then Monster Magnet coming from somewhere else completely. Sure, this was the tour where they were performing 1995’s Dopes to Infinity in its entirety, and you won’t hear me deny that record is a classic of American heavy psych rock, but where Naam and Quest for Fire both feel like they’re just getting to that point in their careers, that they’re really getting a handle on their aesthetic and the creativity they can bring to the form, Monster Magnet have long since moved onto something different, sound-wise, so for them to revisit it in Brooklyn was, in light of everything they’ve done since on their subsequent and more straightforward hard rock records, a bit incongruous.

For example, after Naam was done, the mood in the room changed. It was packed by then — a diverse crowd of fans young and old, some hard rockers and some heavy rockers — and as Monster Magnet‘s crew set up and checked the gear, it was like the air got colder, more clinical. It’s been a long time now since Monster Magnet decided they were a professional band, and the thing about Dopes to Infinity and their material preceding it is that they weren’t really professional albums, so as the crew taped down setlists all over the stage on all four sides, taped down wires so they wouldn’t get tangled, shifted monitor positions and warmed up the amps for guitarists Garrett Sweeny (of Riotgod) and Phil Caivano and bassist Jim Baglino (also Riotgod), I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if Monster Magnet just came out and played?

I realize that at this stage in the band’s career, that’s an unreasonable expectation. It’s not what they’re about. They’re about a more commercial brand of hard rock — one with a bent in the songwriting that appreciates the structures of late ’60s and early ’70s classics and with no shortage of personality thanks to the lyrics and vocals of band founder and principal songwriter Dave Wyndorf — but still a huge step away sonically from the band’s beginnings. Once they got going following a long stretch of house lights down, no one on stage and sitar drones coming through the P.A., watching Monster Magnet in 2012 play Dopes to Infinity was like seeing a completely different band.

Because it was a different band. Their last connection to that era, apart from Wyndorf himself, was lead guitarist Ed Mundell, who left following the release of 2010’s Mastermind (review here). Rounded out by drummer Bob Pantella (also Riotgod and The Atomic Bitchwax), the latest Monster Magnet lineup around Wyndorf is built to rock the way new Monster Magnet rocks — and they’re good at it, but it’s enough of a difference from what they did on Dopes to Infinity to be notable and definitely affected their interpretations of the material on stage at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

One can’t really fault them for it, since they’re different musicians with different modes of playing than those that originally appeared on the album, and I won’t deny that Monster Magnet rocked the Dopes stuff hard, playing it out of the original order to better account for it being a live show and saving “Negasonic Teenage Warhead” for the encore. “Look to Your Orb for the Warning,” the title-track, “Dead Christmas” and “All Friends and Kingdom Come” were highlights as they are on the record, but the apex of the show came with “Third Alternative.” Wyndorf, ever one for killer stage banter, prefaced it by saying, “As this thing goes on, it gets darker — kinda like life, huh?” but then laughed it off and said, “But we won’t talk about that.” Why not? For a song that says, “I’ll stuff myself in a pit of darkness and slam till I can’t see home,” it’s not like there’s any beating around the bush going on. Own it.

That was the darkest part of their show, and among the most honest. Wyndorf nailed the delivery of the vocals — he called the song a “21st Century blues,” which was a little ironic since it came out in ’95 — and then left the stage as the band transitioned into the instrumental “Theme From ‘Masterburner'” before regular-set closer “King of Mars.” The crowd was in their pocket the whole time, and didn’t thin out at all when they finished “King of Mars” and went backstage, where they stayed long enough for me to get distracted and let my mind wander. It was late by most show standards these days, getting on 1AM, but there was no way I was missing the encore.

My perpetual hope is that at some point I’ll see them do “Spine of God” and have my consciousness fractured by it, spending the rest of my days in blissful, devastated catatonia. The reality — no doubt in part due to the circumstances of the band I described above — would no doubt be different, but if reason had anything to do with it, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Nonetheless, no such luck on the encore. They did “Negasonic Teenage Warhead,” a welcomed plodding rendition of Mastermind opener “Hallucination Bomb,” “Powertrip” and, naturally, “Space Lord,” their biggest hit and most unavoidable single. Even if they didn’t want to play it, they couldn’t not.

Wyndorf himself acknowledged this, giving the most concise summation I’ve ever heard of a band’s view on their own material. As Sweeny and Caivano began the riff to “Space Lord,” he said, “Obvious? Yes. Necessary? Yes!” He was right. For whatever reason, Monster Magnet had to do “Space Lord,” and everyone knew it was coming, and everyone dug the hell out of it. I spent all of the subsequent Saturday with the chorus ringing in my ears — it’s simply undeniable.

So too is Monster Magnet‘s legacy. They may have departed sonically the field in which their influence is most felt, namely heavy psych and stoner rock, but their stage presence in the current incarnation is remarkable, and the players with whom Wyndorf has surrounded himself are masters at what they do — Caivano and Sweeny on guitar, Baglino like some kind of born rock and roll salesman on bass and Pantella on drums. I left the show and went back to my car outside the Academy Annex, stared down the block at the luxury riverfront condos that stood where once there had been vacant lots and run-down warehouses, and had to recognize for a moment that nothing is static, nothing stays undeveloped and that to ask the present to be the past is foolish. Dopes to Infinity had its day, Monster Magnet were as faithful to it as they wanted to be 17 years later. You either enjoy it for what it was or sulk, and sulking seemed to me a waste of time.

Extra pics after the jump, and thanks for reading.

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It must be showcase season, because New York imprint Tee Pee Records has announced a slew of label nights as they always do. And as per usual, they’ve put together a couple killer evenings of heavy psych and rock, which will take place as part of the Montreal Pop and CMJ fests. Fortunately, as you can see below, most of the bands playing the CMJ showcases in Brooklyn don’t have to travel too far to get there.

Here’s the news off the PR wire:

New York City-based independent rock label Tee Pee Records has announced plans to showcase at two of North America‘s most celebrated music festivals in the coming weeks. On Thursday, Sept. 22, Tee Pee will proudly showcase an array of its artists at the 10th annual Pop Montreal festival, an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec. Artists slated to appear include Canadian psychedelic rockers Quest for Fire, fast-rising Brooklyn stargazers Naam, Toronto hardcore punks Burning Love and Brooklyn “astral metal” band Elks.

The following evening (Sept. 23), Tee Pee will bring the family to Toronto, ON, with a supercharged show at The Silver Dollar Room. Quest for Fire and Elks will bring the rock and the whole shebang will conclude with a (super loud) performance from Naam.

Tee Pee will follow the Pop Montreal showcase and Toronto show with not one, but TWO showcases at the 32nd annual CMJ Music Marathon, set to take place Oct. 18-22 in NYC. Tee Pee will host the first of its CMJ showcases on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at Brooklyn‘s Saint Vitus Bar and follow with a second evening of diverse Rock ‘N’ Roll on Friday, Oct. 21 at Union Pool.

The lineups for Tee Pee Records‘ 2011 CMJ showcases are as follows (check it out!):

Tee Pee Records CMJ (Night 1)
Wednesday Oct. 19 at Saint Vitus Bar
(1120 Manhattan Ave (between Clay St & Box St), Brooklyn, NY 11222
Featuring:
Hopewell (Brooklyn, NY)
Weird Owl (Brooklyn, NY)
The Main Street Gospel (Columbus, OH)
Nordic Nomadic (Feat. Chad Ross of Quest for Fire, Toronto, ON)
Dead Stars (Brooklyn, NY)

Tee Pee Records CMJ (Night 2)
Friday, Oct. 21 at Union Pool
(484 Union Ave. # A, Brooklyn, NY 11211-3440)
Featuring:
Naam (Brooklyn, NY)
Very Special Guest TBA (Brooklyn, NY)
The Fucking Wrath (Montalvo, CA)
Elks (Brooklyn, NY)
Mirror Queen (Brooklyn, NY)
Unstoppable Death Machines (Brooklyn, NY)

Not to steal thunder from this month’s just-posted podcast, but it just wouldn’t be a series if you missed an episode. Accordingly, here is the next batch of streams recorded live at this year’s Roadburn festival at the 013 Popcentrum in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Some cool stuff here from Voivod, Soilent Green, Blood Farmers and Black Mountain and a couple I didn’t get to see from The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble and Jesse Sykes, plus Quest for Fire, who packed out the Bat Cave, a second set from Dragontears (if you missed the first, it’s here), and a few more, so there’s lots to check out.

Black Mountain
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44797866#ondemand.44797866

Blood Farmers (Green Room)
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44797874#ondemand.44797874

Dragontears (Midi Theatre)
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44797879#ondemand.44797879

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44797886#ondemand.44797886

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44797890#ondemand.44797890

Quest for Fire
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44800056#ondemand.44800056

Soilent Green
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44800060#ondemand.44800060

Void of Voices
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44800064#ondemand.44800064

Voivod
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44800071#ondemand.44800071

Year of No Light
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44800075#ondemand.44800075

As always, these links come at the generosity of Walter and the Roadburn crew and were captured/mixed by Marcel van de Vondervoort and his team at Spacejam. Heartfelt gratitude to all parties involved.