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[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL
"First Impressions of Kyuss" |
03.02.11 |
BY MIKEY MIGO
Same ol' song and dance. Every month or so I take a few hours of my life to expand my musical lexicon by listening to a band I've not heard before or given a full fair shot to. I go with bands I've never crossed paths with or maybe have only heard a single or two. To keep it realistic and not too much of a hassle, I limit myself to bands with a studio discography of four to six albums. I listen to them all, back to back and share my free flowing first impression. I've had a few circumstances where I've fall in love with a band and some cases where I'm able to build strong cases against. The point is just expanding my own ears a little and being able to have an informed opinion.
Why Kyuss?
I feel a bit of a hypocrite in claiming my Josh Homme love when I've not even heard some of his earliest work. I'm a big fan of Queens of the Stone Age. Without really trying I've ended up seeing them perform now like three or four times. Each time it's like a bitch slap of groove that sometimes left me more impressed than the headliners that night (Rage Against The Machine, I mean you.). I'm also a big fan of Them Crooked Vultures and can't wait for more material to get out there. Hell, a while ago I did one of these "First Impression" things on another project of his, Eagles of Death Metal. No complaint there, so really why shouldn't I think this is going to rock? He's not one to be involved with a sucky project and his style typically meets my standards of taste. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that while I have no frame of reference to Kyuss's music, I'm a bit optimistic that the next few hours are going to be spent rocking out. Let's see…
Wretch
(1991 – 49min.) - Kyuss's first album kicks off with "[Beginning Of What's About to Happen] Hwy 74". It's a melodic metal track with some good riff work. It breaks at a minute and half and goes into a heavy building bridge into some more instrumental "jammage". Two minutes in and I'm already making up words like "jammage". Vocals kick in and it's droney and rock. Almost James Hetfield on weed… maybe some Primus. I'm not sure yet based off one song. I'm interested though, I can say that. "Love Has Passed Me By" sounds like 80's rock. Almost like a hair metal song, but with less glitz and more bong hits. "Son of a Bitch" starts off with a cry of "Goddamned Son of a Bitch" and then goes into a pretty damn epic old school metal song. This would have made for a great entrance song for an ECW wrestler in the early 90's. It's just its over six minutes long, which is like three minutes too long. The down tempo bluesy grit of "Black Widow" really rocks. It's rare to get this kind of middle ground in "metal" and "blues" without it sounding too ZZ-Topish, but it's pulled off here. "Katzenjammer" unleashes into an instant fury of jumping around. I can't help but imagine people in tye-dye shirts jumping into each other and calling it "moshing". "Deadly Kiss" starts off with a bad ass riff and some heavy drums. It pulls you in and then breaks at about a minute and forty in with an even more bad ass riff. The opening of "The Law" is intense, but at nearly 8 minutes it's a bit overkill. It would be different if the song had a lot of layers and transitions in it, but it's pretty bland for the time it takes. I dig the flow and bounce of "Isolation". It's one of the stronger tracks on the album for sure. "I'm Not" is another really solid track. The "da-da-da-da" drum and melody rock. "Big Bikes" is probably the most "stoneriffic" song on the album. It has a really cool grove and is has some slight "trippiness" to it. Any song that croons "I want some puuuuuuuuuss-say" gets points with me, but the guitar work during the bridge is the best on the album. Really cool stuff. The album closes with "Stage III". It builds up a cadence-style drum and melody as it slowly drones into feedback and drum counts into a really cool and loose rock jam. No vocals on it almost makes it my favorite thus far. Good stuff. It's worth noting that members of the band don't even consider this their "debut" album because it has a lot of released stuff from their demo and early recordings. This and the fact they already put out a release under a different name. The quality isn't all that great in the production department, but the music holds up on its own to make you forget it. Musically it's metal, but real metal. Not this speed freak growler nonsense bullshit metal bands are claiming as music and art. This is rock and roll with balls, that's metal. This is in the same world as Metallica in terms of music, but vocally it's lacking. The vocals sound like hair band singer meets Les Claypool. It works in doses, but there are times when the vocals take away from the very impressive tunes coming out of this band so early in the 90's. I'm hoping to hear the band evolve over the next few albums, but this is good starting point for sure.
Blues for the Red Sun
(1992 – 51min.) - "Thumb" starts us off. It's a slow burner, but you almost instantly notice the production quality being much better. Reading tells me that this is where the band started to get some attention and got a few singles on MTV. Maybe something will sound familiar. One of those songs was "Green Machine". Eh. I've not only heard it, but I'm not impressed. It sounds like a Motley Crue song slowed down by like 50%. It sounds like they made it thinking "this is a single!" Let down. But all is good in the world when we get a instrumental jam in "Molten Universe". I will say I do appreciate what's going on in "50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)". We get some drug inspired rants with some deep pitted soul. The music rocks on it and it takes you on a good trip. I have to think this is my favorite track of their so far. The plucky starting "Thong Song" is another track that got MTV time. I'm a fan of it. It's better than "Green Machine", but I wouldn't say it's cool. It IS about flip-flops. It almost feels like a Cheech and Chong song made for the 90's. It's just a ridiculous tune, but I can't help but head bang to it. There is a slow and awesome build up on "Apothecaries' Weight" and the song doesn't disappoint. "Caterpillar March" feels like a spontaneous jam session track that snuck its way onto the album. Its good stuff so no complaints. There is an eerie distance to start off "Freedom Run", a seven and a half minute track. About a minute in we some creepy and trippy chants. This goes into some seriously awesome riffs and melody. It's only a minute and a half, but "800" is cool and shit. It has a tribal-drum and chant thing going on and it's a good bridge into this next one. "Writhe" has a doped out vibe to it. I don't get how it manages to have hard riffs while managing to still be droney. It almost fucks with your ear holes a little too much. "Capsized" comes and goes so quickly I don't even have an opinion of it. The metal is unleashed with "Allen's Wrench". It's a balls out metal track and hard not to headbang to. Good stuff. The song bleeds into "Mondo Generator", which is name that'd pop up in at least one of their careers later on. The song is intense and takes you on a journey. It's almost industrial with its edginess within the layers and brooding tone. Then for like five seconds of a track and a waste of time we hear a quick clip of someone saying "Yeah". That was pointless. "Mondo Generator" ended on a solid note and would have made for a better fade out. I like this album more than the first. It's more polished and has a more unique voice. The band sounds like they really got their shit together in this one. I'm even more curious about the next one now.
Welcome to Sky Valley
(1994 – 51min.) - The third album and first released under Elektra is a solid rocker in "Gardenia". This album is weird. It's broken up into sections of credit. Like the first four songs are by Josh Homme and Brant Bjork, the next three are Homme and Scott Reader and then the last four are by Homme, Bjork, Reeder, and Mario Lalli. I wonder if this is going to affect the sound of the album. It's an interesting concept though. I'm a big fan of "Asteroid". The song drew me in and got me knee tapping and getting into it. The riffs and melody in "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop" is fun, but the vocals seem a little restrained. I like the contrast of vocals, slight trippiness with the reverb, and the balls out rock tuneage of "100°". I wasn't expecting a slower song at this point, but "Space Cadet" is a cool acoustic sounding track that builds and builds into mind journey of a song. One of the bands best so far. They follow it up with another 5 plus minute jam in "Demon Cleaner". "Odyssey" has a slower build and almost sounds like an old Tool song, but then the guitar riffs kick in and switch it up. The crazy drums and bad ass guitar opening of "Conan Troutman" is cool enough, but then the vocals kind of kill it for me. Sucks too, "Conan" and "Troutman" are two of my favorite people. "N.O." feels out of place. It sounds a little too much like a biker bar song save for some cool guitar playing. The album closes strong with "Whitewater". Another track I'd probably throw on a future playlist if I remember it tomorrow. After this is a "hidden track" of about a minute called "Lick Doo". It's groundbreaking stuff. All joking aside, I think this one is probably their best album. I don't know how critics or long time fans would place it, but I didn't have much to complain about on this album. The vocals are way better and more in a comfortable range for the awesome voice that John Garcia can possess at times, the music just as trippy, and the production is sound. It was a good album to listen to from front to back, but I don't know how the songs will translate on their own in future more random listens. I'm more than willing to find this out though. Even if you don't want to, give this album a listen. It's pretty cool.
…And the Circus Leaves Town
(1995 – 51min.) - It's almost a drum solo until a groovified guitar jumps in. Vocals eventually start up and "Hurricane", the first song of the band's last album is good to go. It grizzles out into the intro of "One Inch Man". I miss albums that did that kind of stuff with transitioning. It's a good song, but the guitar madness about half way in makes it worth a listen on its own. Granted it has a great title, "Thee Ol' Boozeroony" ends up being a kick ass brooder of a instrumental. There is something evil about "Gloria Lewis" that I dig. It reminds me of what it would sound like if Rob Zombie covered a track by The Doors. I love Rob Zombie and I love The Doors so take that as you will. We get another melodic slow burner in "Phototropic", which doesn't see vocals until like two minutes in. Even then they feel like they're just there for decoration. The song is awesome and defines the term "stoner metal" easily. "El Rodeo" has some wailing and trippy guitars start us off and build into cool tune. At like two minutes in it warps into a rock out. It reminds me most of "Queens of The Stone Age" than any other song of theirs I've heard so far. So yeah, I like it. It's another instruamental, but I loved me some "Jumbo Blimp Jumbo". The song is intense and is a great listen. As I write this, it's almost three in the morning and it's putting my mind in a weird place. I know it's "stoner" rock, but I don't think you'd need to be stoned to be taken back in awe by the musicianship here. "Tangy Zizzle" opens with a lame audio clip, but does rebound. I'm reminded again about "Queens" with "Size Queen". The groove and vocal delivery is very their style. "Catamaran" has some easy listening funk vibe going on. It's almost like a parody of a Mike Patton track that ended up being really good so they started taking it seriously after awhile. After this is "Spaceship Landing", a thirty four minute track that has three songs hidden in it with silence book ending them. First is a crazy experimental jam, then "M'deea" for few and then eventually "Day One" at the very end. It's a solid ending to what's probably my second favorite album of theirs.
THE VERDICT: KYUSS
(1991 – 1995 - 4 Studio Albums) - I liked what I heard. Kyuss rocked at what they did for the short time frame they were around. I don't feel too bad that I missed out of them. I would be like eight or so when they got their first album out. The radio wasn't playing them and no one around me was cool enough to have these guys in their cassette collection. I'm a bit surprised I hadn't heard ANY of their music before. If I have, it wasn't with my knowledge. I like the "stoner rock" style. Not because of what it represents, though I'm cool with the stance, but rather because it takes metal and gives it a groove. It's aggressive, it's trippy, and it's done by some very talented people. I enjoyed some albums more than others, but in the end it was a good experience. I'll want to listen to more of them in the future, but with this one measly listen it's hard to point fingers at what tracks were "definitive" for the band. It's a lot of good stuff, but nothing stands out as songs I'd be able to throw on a stoner mix. It's complete album listen or bust. I don't know if I can make any promises I'd go out of my way to listen again in this nature. It got kind of hard to describe after awhile without saying "cool", "I dig", and "trippy" every song. If you like Primus, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, or really any band related to these three groups then there is a very good chance you've heard this band already. If not, I do recommend giving this band a shot. If those bands aren't you think then it's probably best to stay away. I won't be one of those people. I see the reason this band gets respect and I too respect them for the same reasons. There is just something a little too dated in their sound for me to get over the hump of being a "fan". I support and I dig, but I'm not so much a "fan".
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