Ripplefest Texas 2025: Wo Fat, Suplecs, Mr. Plow & More Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 31st, 2025 by JJ Koczan

My understanding is that at some point in the between-now-and-September, the full lineup of Ripplefest Texas 2025 is going to be laid out in a nice, orderly, day-split-style fashion. I don’t doubt it, but that’s not what this is. If you caught the update from the Austin-based festival last week, you know they’ve started a round of daily adds, and so this is a weekly catchup. The second one, as it happens. It’s the one with Wo Fat and Suplecs in it, which to be sure are distinguishing features.

Mr. Plow, whose pretense-free heavy rock charm springs eternal, as well as punkers Lake Lake from Ohio, and the duo Sons of Gulliver. Maybe I’ll sneak one more in here — Stone NomadsThe Kupa Pities! — before it’s posted. I’m traveling so it’s kind of complicated timing-wise.

In any case, you’re perfectly capable of hitting up the Ripplefest Texas socials if you want to get a sense right now immediately of the full lineup as it stands. It’s rad. We’ll get there.

For now:

ripplefest texas 2025 suplecs

RIPPLEFEST TEXAS 2025 – NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: SUPLECS

Hailing from New Orleans, and formed in 1996, Suplecs has been a power trio force to be recon with in the stoner rock community. Consisting of Danny Nick (former EYEHATEGOD), Durel Yates, and Andrew Preen, Suplecs released their first album “Wrestlin With My Lady Friend” on Frank Kozik’s famous Man’s Ruin Records in 2000 produced by Danny’s EYEHATEGOD bandmate Jimmy Bower. Their sophomore effort “Sad Songs, Better Days” would be released the following year again by Man’s Ruin Records and produced by Dave Fortman, then rereleased in 2002 after the demise of Frank Kozik’s home for all things heavy.

Their music has been featured on TV shows such as “Dog The Bounty Hunter” and “MTV’s Fun Factory.” Age, marriage, children, business ventures, and divorce all played roles in the members of Suplecs lives over the last decade. 2025 will mark the 25th Anniversary of Suplecs Annual Mardi Gras show in New Orleans that has become a staple for over 500 people every year. In early 2024, Suplecs decided to write new material after many years of “playing the hits” from their early releases. With all that has transpired in their lives, Suplecs is currently finishing up writing on their fifth album which promises to be a culmination of previous efforts with more raw heaviness and age old swagger than some of their earlier works.

We are excited to have these legends performing this year. It’s a live show you won’t want to miss!

ripplefest texas 2025 lake lake

NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: LAKE LAKE

Lake Lake is a glimmer of hope in a sea of black hoodies. A noisy near death dance party in a world of folded arms.

“I saw this band a few years ago and wondered why everybody else didn’t know this band. Then when I listened to their new record I had to get them to RippleFest Texas. They were actually the first band I booked for 2025.” -Ryan Garney, Lick of My Spoon Productions

ripplefest texas 2025 Mr. Plow

NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: MR. PLOW

For over 25 years, Mr. Plow from Houston, Texas, has thrilled listeners with their original brand of heavy rock. Taking musical inspiration from heavy 1990s bands (like Fu Manchu, Kyuss, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Melvins, Clutch, Helmet, Quicksand, and others) and lyrical inspiration from popular culture and novels (particularly those of Kurt Vonnegut), Mr. Plow self-released 3 albums: Head On (2000); Cockfights and Pony Racin’ (2004); and Asteroid 25399 (2006). Mr. Plow then signed with Ripple Music and released their fourth album, Maintain Radio Silence, in August 2018 (a mere 12 years after their last release). Mr. Plow is currently working on material for a new album, which will hopefully be released sometime before 2030.

Mr. Plow consists of Justin Waggoner (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Stone (guitar, vocals), Cory Cousins (drums, vocals), and Gabe Katz (bass, vocals).

ripplefest texas 2025 Sons of Gulliver

NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: SONS OF GULLIVER

Since their first single “Desert Boogie” in 2023, Texas drum ‘n bass duo Sons of Gulliver has been releasing a steady stream of tunes and gigging across Texas, honing their brand of beefy, booty-shaking stoner metal. It all culminated in their debut self-titled EP released in May 2024, on which Justin Potter and Dolphin Riot explode forth with a ferocious exuberance and knack for gigantic grooves. Sons of Gulliver’s potent combo of pulverizing tone and swinging rhythms recalls The Midnight Ghost Train and Clutch at its heaviest, and Potter’s earthy growls add a primal edge that hammers it all home. This boogie van has longhorns on its grill and Mad Max at the wheel.

ripplefest texas 2025 wo fat

NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: WO-FAT

While Wo Fat may be speaking a familiar language to the apostles of the riff, there isn’t anyone that sounds quite like them.

Wo Fat’s journey slinging their Texas-sized psychedelic blues doom began in 2006 with their first album The Gathering Dark, and the swampadelic visionquest of overdriven, fuzz-laden riffage and jazz-minded jam explorations have continued through six more studio albums, a live album and a couple of splits including their latest and most daring psychotropic exploration of heaviness to date, The Singularity, released May 2022 on Ripple Music. Having gained a reputation as one of the premier US Stoner Metal bands, they have stayed true to the deep, dark blues that wails from within and have forged their riffs with a primal grooviness, giving them a consistency of style, even while they have progressed and matured as a band, with their musical forays getting heavier, trippier, and even bringing in elements of jazz fusion and prog at times on the latest album.

ripplefest texas 2025 stone nomads

NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: STONE NOMADS

STONE NOMADS is an American doom-sludge-metal power trio based in Houston, TX. The band, formed by Jon Cosky (Guitar/Vocals) and Jude Sisk (Bass/Vocals) in 2021, incorporates the sounds of modern Sludge Metal, early Doom Metal and all things heavy. Conceptually, the band explores the journey of life and death through the heavier and darker side of things, delivered via sludged-out, powerful riff-based sonics.

ripplefest texas 2025 the kupa pities

NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: THE KUPA PITIES

The Kupa Pities are a German heavy fuzz-rock band with a garage attitude. Blasting tunes from a Mad Max resurrection, this machine is rollin straight outta the desert into your 90’s closet, shredding flannel shirts with hardcore attitude.

Founded in 2020 The Kupa Pities released their first album “Godlike Supervision” in November 2021. Incorporating their live energy and widening their sound, the second album followed in May 2024.

There is no greater family reunion than RippleFest Texas, so get your tickets now and get your eardrums and bodies ready for lots of crushing music and warm hugs!

Get Tix at: www.lickofmyspoon.com

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LOMSProductions
https://www.instagram.com/LOMSProductions/
http://www.lickofmyspoon.com/
https://linktr.ee/Lickofmyspoon

Suplecs, “White Devil” live at Creepy Fest 2023

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Keep it Low Festival 2022 Makes First Lineup Annoucement

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

KEEP IT LOW 2022 BANNER

I have said so many times in the past, but of all the festivals throughout any given ‘normal’ year in the sphere of Sound of Liberation‘s booking itinerary, I always wanted to go to Keep it Low in Munich. Yeah, part of that is because Colour Haze regularly shows up — kind of the house band — and any opportunity you can take advantage of to see them in your life is a thing worth doing, but also the general vibe of the artwork, what seems like kind of a laid back feel and intention. At this point it’s been going on long enough (without me in attendance) that I’m sure a community of familiar faces has been built up, and as the first lineup announcement for Keep it Low 2022 on Oct. 7 & 8 comes out, I’m in the same boat as ever thinking that if this was the complete festival, done, one shot, blamo, then you’d say it was looking to be a killer couple days in Germany.

That Friday lineup is unstoppable, and Saturday is more populated but right behind it with Fu Manchu and Unida at the top of the bill so far and a reunion slot for The Great Escape (feat. members of My Sleeping Karma), as well as US imports like The Heavy EyesHigh Reeper and Hippie Death Cult (waiting for that tour announcement any minute now). Maybe they’ll all go together and call it the Triple-H tour, thereby proving that they too remember pro wrestling in the mid-1990s.

Alright, maybe not. Either way, with more to come, here’s what the fest has to say about its own badass doings:

KEEP IT LOW 2022 poster

KEEP IT LOW – LINE-UP NEWS & SINGLE DAY TICKETS ON SALE

Dear Keepers,

today we’re happy to reveal the first bands for our upcoming Keep it Low festival 2022! Additionally, Single-Day Tickets are now on sale!

Check it out:

FRIDAY 7th OCTOBER

Orange Goblin
UFOMAMMUT
Sasquatch
Naxatras
Slomosa
hellamor

SATURDAY 8th OCTOBER

Fu Manchu
Unida
The Heavy Eyes
HIGH REEPER
Hippie Death Cult
Vvlva
The Great Escape
Mindcrawler
The Kupa Pities
Dead Taste

EVENT
https://www.facebook.com/events/975025036197960/

TICKETS
http://www.sol-tickets.com

We can’t wait to see you all!

Cheers,
Your KIL Crew

https://www.facebook.com/keepitlowfestival/
https://www.keepitlow.de/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/

Orange Goblin, Live at Hellfest 2022

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Quarterly Review: Sergio Ch., Titanosaur, Insect Ark, Never Kenezzard, The Kupa Pities, Warpstormer, Ricardo Jiménez y Antonio Ramírez, Children of the Sün, Desert Clouds, Gondhawa

Posted in Reviews on January 19th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Getting to the halfway point of a Quarterly Review is always something special. I’m not trying to say it’s a hardship reviewing 50 records in a week — if anything it’s a relief, despite the strain it seems to put on my interpersonal relationships; The Patient Mrs. hates it and I can’t really fault her for that since it does consume a fair amount of my brain while it’s ongoing — but some days it comes down to ‘do I shower or do I write’ and usually writing wins out. I’ll shower later. Probably. Hopefully.

But today we pass halfway through and there’s a lot of killer still to come, so plenty to look forward to either way. The day starts with an old favorite I’ve included here basically as a favor to myself. Let’s go.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Sergio Ch., La Danza de los Tóxicos

Sergio Ch La Danza de los Tóxicos

Comparatively speaking, La Danza de los Tóxicos is a pretty straightforward solo offering from Soldati/Ararat/ex-Los Natas frontman Sergio Chotsourian, whose ealrier-2021 full-length, Koi (review here), featured both of his children, one rapping and one joining him on vocals for a Nine Inch Nails cover. Perhaps it’s in reaction to that record that this one feels more traditionalist, with Chotsourian (aka Sergio Ch.) still finding 11 minutes to drone out instrumentalist style on closer “Thor Hammer” and to sample Scarface at the start of “Late Train,” but in his guy-and-guitar ethic, a lot of this material sounds like the roots of things to come — Chotsourian has shared songs between projects for years — while keeping a balance between exploratory vibe and traditional structures on pieces like “Skinny Ass,” “La Esquina” and “88.”

Sergio Ch. on Facebook

South American Sludge Records on Bandcamp

 

Titanosaur, Absence of Universe

Titanosaur Absence of Universe

Coated in burl and aggressive presentation as well as the occasional metaphors about stellar phenomena and hints/flourish of Latin rhythm and percussion, Titanosaur‘s fourth long-player, Absence of Universe, sees multi-instrumentalist, producer and vocalist Geoff Saavedra engaging with aggressive tonality and riff construction as well as the various instabilities of the moment in which the album was put together. “Conspiracy” feels somewhat self-explanatory from a lyrical standpoint, and both opener “The Echo Chamber” and “Shut Off the Voices” feel born of the era in their theme, while “So Happy” seems like a more personal perspective on mental health. Whatever a given song’s subject throughout the nine-track/42-minute offering, Saavedra delivers with a heavy rock born out of ’90s metal such that the breakdown in “So Happy” feels natural when it hits, and the rush of finale “Needed Order” seems like an earned expulsion of the tension so much of the record prior has been building, incluing the chugging force of “I Will Live Forever” immediately prior.

Titanosaur on Facebook

The Swamp Records on Bandcamp

 

Insect Ark, Future Fossils

insect ark future fossils

Future Fossils would seem to take its name from the idea of bringing these tracks together in some effort toward conservation, to keep them from getting lost to time or obscurity amid the various other works and incarnations of Insect Ark. The first three songs are synth-only solo pieces by Dana Schechter, recorded in 2018, and the final piece, “Gravitrons,” is a 23-minute live improvisation by Schechter and then-drummer Ashley Spungin recorded in New York in 2016. The sense that these things might someday be “discovered” as one might unearth a fossil is fair enough — the minimalism of “Gypsum Blade” has space enough to hold whatever evocations one might place on it, and while “Anopsian Volta” feels grounded with a line of piano, opener “Oral Thrush” seems more decidedly cinematic. All this of course is grist for the mill of “Gravitrons,’ which is consuming unto itself in its ambience and rife with experimentalist purpose. Going in order to have gone. As ethics go, that one feels particularly worth preserving.

Insect Ark on Facebook

Consouling Sounds website

 

Never Kenezzard, The Long and Grinding Road

Never Kenezzard The Long and Grinding Road

Sludge and grind come together on Denver trio Never Kenezzard‘s The Long and Grinding Road, and through what seems to be some modern metallurgical miracle, the album sounds neither like CarcassSwansong nor Dopethrone. After the pummeling beginning of “Gravity” and “Genie,” the interlude “Praer” and the subequent channel-panning-screamer “Ra” expand an anti-genre take as bent on individuality of sound as they apparently are on clever wordplay. “Demon Wheel” has a genuine heavy rock thrust, and “Slowburn” and the looped clock noise of “11:59:59” provide buffers between the extended cuts “Seven Statues” (11:31) and “The Long and Grinding Road” (14:55) itself, which closes, but by then the three-piece have established a will and a way to go wherever they want and you can follow if you’re up for it. So are you? Probably. There’s some underlying current of Faith No More-style fuckery in the sound, something playful about the way Never Kenezzard push themselves into abrasion. You can tell they’re having fun, and that affects the listening experience throughout the purposefully unmanageable 57 minutes of the album.

Never Kenezzard on Facebook

Never Kenezzard on Bandcamp

 

The Kupa Pities, Godlike Supervision

The Kupa Pities Godlike Supervision

There’s a thread of noise rock that runs throughout Godlike Supervision, the debut full-length from Munich-based four-piece The Kupa Pities, and it brings grit to both the early-Clutch riffing of lead cut “Anthology” and the later, fuzz-overdose “Queen Machine.” It’s not just about aggression, though there’s some of that, but of the band putting their own spin on the established tenets of Kyuss-style desert and Fu Manchu-style heavy rocks. “Black Hole” digs into the punkish roots of the former, while the starts-and-stops of “Dance Baby Dance” and the sheer push of the title-track hint toward the latter, even if they’re a little sharper around the edges than the penultimate “Surfing,” which feels like it was titled after what the band do with their own groove — they seem to ride it in expert fashion. So be it. “Black Hole” works in a bit of atmosphere and “Burning Man” caps with a fair-enough blowout at the finish, ending the album on a note not unfamiliar but indicative of the twists The Kupa Pities are working to bring to their influences.

The Kupa Pities on Facebook

The Kupa Pities on Bandcamp

 

Warpstormer, 1

warpstormer logo

A newcomer trio, London’s Warpstormer brings together guitarist Scott Black (Green Lung), drummer Matthew Folley and bassist/vocalist Richard J. Morgan (ex-Oak), and their aptly-titled first EP, 1, presents four bangers of unrepentantly brash heavy rock and roll, channeling perhaps some of earlier Orange Goblin‘s boozy-wrecking-crew vibes, but on “Ride the Bomb” digging into post-hardcore and metal as well, the abidingly aggro sense undercut by a quiet stretch holding its tension in the drums as well as the drunken quiet start of “Devourer,” which gets plenty bruising by its finish but is slower in procession certainly than were “Here Comes Hell” and “Storm Caller” at the outset. They’re in and out and done in 19 minutes, but as what otherwise might be a demo, 1 gives a look at where Warpstormer are coming from and would seem to herald future incursions to come. I’ll take it. The songs come across as feeling out where the band wants to be in terms of sound, but where they’re headed, they’re headed with due charge.

Warpstormer on Facebook

Warpstormer on Bandcamp

 

Ricardo Jiménez y Antonio Ramírez, Génesis Negro

Ricardo Jiménez y Antonio Ramírez Génesis Negro

Génesis Negro perhaps loses something in the audio-only experience. To wit, while Ricardo Jiménez Gómez is responsible for all the music on the album, it’s the illustrations of Antonio Ramírez Collado, bringing together in Blake-esque style mysticism, anatomy, and ideas born of research into early Christian gnostics, that serve as the root from which that music is sprung. Instrumental in its entirety and including a reprint of the article that ties the visuals and audio together and was apparently the inspiration for exploring the subject to start with, its 43-minute run can obviously offer the listener a deeper dive than just the average collection of verse/chorus songs, and no doubt that’s the intention. Some pieces are minimal enough to barely be there at all, enough to emphasize every strum of a string, and others offer a distorted tonal weight that seems ready to interpret any number of psychedelic spiritual chaos processes. If you want to get weird, Ricardo Jiménez y Antonio Ramírez are way ahead of you. They might also be ahead of themselves, honestly, despite whatever temporal paradox that implies.

Sentencia Records on Facebook

Sentencia Records on Bandcamp

 

Children of the Sün, Roots

Children of the Sün Roots

Tracks like “Leaves,” “Blood Boils Hot,” and “Thunder” still rock out a pretty heavy classic blues rock vibe, but Swedish outfit Children of the Sün — as the title Roots would imply in following-up their 2019 debut, Flowers (review here) — seem to dig deeper into atmospheric expression, emotive melodies and patience of craft in the 13-track/44-minute offering. From the the mellow noodling of “Reflection” at the start, a piano-led foreshadow for “Eden” later on, to the acoustic-till-it-ain’t “Man in the Moon” later on, the spirit of Roots feels somewhere between days gone by and days to come and therefore must be the present, strutting accordingly on “The Soul” and making a pure vocal showcase for Josefina Berglund Ekholm, on which she shines as one has come to expect. There are moments where the vocals feel disconnected from the instrumental portions of the songs, but where they go, they go organically.

Children of the Sün on Facebook

The Sign Records on Facebook

 

Desert Clouds, Planexit

desert clouds planexit

Is that flute on “Planexit,” the opener and longest track (immediate points), on Planexit, the latest outing from London-based grunge-informed heavy rockers Desert Clouds? It could well be, and after the somewhat bleaker progression of the riffs prior, that escape into melody comes across as well-placed. The band are likewise unafraid to pull off atmospheric Nick Cave-style storytelling in “Wheelchair” and more broodingly progressive fare in “Deceivers,” leaving the relatively brief “Revolutionary Lies” to rest somewhere between Southern heavy, early ’90s melodicism and a modern production. Throughout the 45-minute LP, the band swap out various structural ideologies, and while I can’t help be immersed in the groove and bassline of “Deceivers,” the linear build and receding of the penultimate “Pearl Marmalade” feels no less essential to the impact of the record overall. Behold a band who have found their niche and set themselves to the task of refining its parameters. As ever, it works because songwriting and performance are both right on.

Desert Clouds on Facebook

Mandrone Records website

 

Gondhawa, Käampâla

Gondhawa - Käampâla

Comprised of Clement Pineau (drums, kamele n’goni, vocals, percussion), Idriss Besselievre (vocals, guitar, sanxian), Paul Adamczuk (bass/guitar, keyboard) and Margot GuilbertGondhawa bring forth a heavy psychedelic cultural sphere throughout the still-digestible six tracks and 37 minutes of Käampâla, with the French trio’s penchant for including instrumentation from Africa or Asia alongside the more traditional guitar, bass, drums, keys and vocals resulting in a lush but natural feeling psychedelia that seems to be all the more open for their readiness to jam outside whatever box expectation might put them in. The title-track feels like Mideastern prog, while the subsequent “Assid Bubu” shreds out an echoing lead over a slow-roller of a stoner-jam nod. Their willingness to dance is a strength, ultimately, and their inclusion of these arrangement elements, including percussion, comes across as more than dabbling in world music. They’re not the first to look beyond their effects pedals in manifesting psych rock, but there’s not a lot out there that sounds like this.

Gondhawa on Facebook

Stolen Body Records website

 

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