The Heads - Reverberations: The 90s Singles & EPs (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.22)

 

This Bristol band had nothing to do with its hometown's trip-hop scene. In fact, it was a cornerstone of what was hyped to death in the '90s as 'Stoner Rock' (but it wasn't). While the rest of the UK music scene in the mid-'90s was busy dressing up for Britpop and rave parties, The Heads were holed up in a rehearsal room surrounded by their amplifiers' fuzz and cannabis smoke. Their entire output from the '90s, anchored by their legendary debut "Relaxing With...", alongside a string of singles, EPs and BBC Peel Sessions, stands as an unapologetic monument to heavy proto-punk psychedelia. 

The raw, lethal energy of the Stooges and MC5 was ingrained in their DNA and Sabbath was non-existent to them, unlike most other bands of the era. The Heads took the basic chord progression of dirty garage punk and stretched it out. Hawkwind were already there, of course, but their affection for Can and Neu!'s motorik beats was deeper and this allowed them to transform a simple blues riff into a ten-minute trance. (Am I hearing you shouting the name of Spacemen 3 as well?). The hasty comparisons in reviews from that period to bands like Monster Magnet, Kyuss and Fu Manchu may have some basis and share common elements and fans, but musically they were closer to Mudhoney and Loop or even The Scientists. I believe you have grasped the direction in which this is heading... 

As you can see, I have brought together all of The Heads' rare recordings from the '90s in one place. Their EPs and singles are now highly sought-after collector's items, showcasing their unique "one chord, three pedals" space-garage-grunge aesthetic. Before releasing at least three essential albums, they spent years producing raw, short-run vinyl pressings with staggering, monolithic and psychedelic results, as well as distinctive, high-contrast, pulp-heavy sleeves inspired by cult classics from the late '60s/early '70s such as Russ Meyer's films.

In brief, here are some of the initial chapters of the Stoogian Bible and their chaos theory, as well as instructions on how to appropriately abuse a guitar and an amplifier.

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Outsideinside (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.21)

 

I don't have a problem with the term 'heavy metal' itself, but I do have a problem with people confusing anything with a more heavy approach as heavy metal. Black Sabbath were the only band to invent this genre. Blue Cheer, Motörhead or the MC5, for example, never considered themselves to be metal and of course they weren't. Sorry, not sorry. Like any other band of the era, Blue Cheer's monolithic debut was rooted in rhythm & blues and their first single was an Eddie Cochran cover. However, it was their sheer volume that set them apart. They delivered a 100% rock'n'roll onslaught that bullied the hippies in their home city of San Francisco. 

"Vincebus Eruptum" is the epitome of primitive musicianship elevated to the level of artistic expression by mistake. Focusing on feeling over form, it directly foreshadowed the punk movement that emerged a decade later and along with Sabbath and Stooges influence, created what was called later 'stoner' or/and 'grunge' in the 90s. While "Vincebus Eruptum" was a brutal force unlike anything ever heard before (and probably never to be equalled), "Outsideinside" was a more polished effort, blending high decibels with psychedelia in a less mature way, but it still carried a high risk of damaging your home stereo speakers.

Both LPs were released in 1968, which makes it logical to me to combine them for a post. Together, these two records represent the brief and intense peak of Blue Cheer's original power trio line-up. Still unmatched.

Mudhoney - March To Superfuzz, 1988 - 2006 (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.20)

 

Mudhoney is one of those bands that helped shape my musical taste when I was young. I never really understood why the Seattle scene was called 'grunge' or why so many different bands were lumped together under that label, but nevermind. Nirvana, for example, had more of a soft spot for indie pop or the Pixies than for punk (I am not saying this as a bad thing, of course) and Soundgarden clearly drew inspiration from Black Sabbath. Mudhoney, on the other hand, were unmistakably a garage band. In sound, attitude and image. From the first chords you could hear the Stooges and the Sonics as the main influences and they never got any heavier than Motörhead or Blue Cheer - both of which are pure rock'n'roll bands anyway.

So, if any band deserves the grunge tag, it's Mudhoney (and Tad). To me, grunge was always about the sludge punk sound of superfuzz bigmuff pedals, not the whole cardigan and jeans and pretending I'm sad and lonely middle class trend/fashion thing. The story of Mundhoney is also partly the story of Sub Pop. Without them, none of what followed would have ever happened and yet they remained outsiders and never had a problem with it (Mark still works in the back room at Sub Pop, where he personally addresses all the packages sent out!). Mark Arm and Steve Turner first formed the legendary Green River with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament (who would later go on to form Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam - I can't stand them really!). When former Melvins bassist Matt Lukin, who claims he was fired for "not having a pussy" and drummer Dan Peters joined, the group came to life and took its name from the 1965 Russ Meyer film. The rest is history. 

Mudhoney is one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands of all time, and I don't take seriously any other opinion on the matter. Laid-back lads, cool and down-to-earth musicians, the kind I have always been fond of. For this WTS compilation, I paraphrased the Sub Pop one about them - because I can - and used the fonts from the Australian (Au Go Go) pressing of "Superfuzz Bigmuff". Naturally, I used the pedal as the sleeve's main character. 

The Seattle quartet has never had to face the indignities of a reunion because it has never broken up. The only change to the group's line-up in its entire history was the departure of bassist Matt from the ranks in 2001 (and they were still friends!). When the band secured a major deal with Reprise in the '90s, they didn't spend their advance on luxurious recordings, they continued on a budget, kept the surplus and used it to make deposits on properties. And as I wrote already, the group never actually stopped being, despite a few occasions when they could have. In the early '90s, Turner returned to college and Peters joined Nirvana and Screaming Trees for a while. Even though they were not making records or touring, they continued to write songs, as well as starting equally amazing bands like The Monkeywrench. Perhaps the last truly independent American band. 

Electric Wizard - Supercoven 667

What if I told you that there's a band that sounds like Black Sabbath when Ozzy was behind the mic but with Ron Asheton on guitar and the rhythm section from Blue Cheer, who are obsessed with everything occult, acid and weed, S&M erotica, motorcycles and '70s horror flicks? Or imagine if Venom had formed a side-band that was really into Jimi Hendrix and performed satanic rituals to the sounds of the Stooges' 'We Will Fall'. Would you want to check them out? What if I added that they recorded all their music using vintage instruments and studios, giving it the sound of a long-lost '70s acid psych demo from some evil unknowns? And that they're actually the heaviest group of the last thirty years? Well, this band does exist and they hail from the Old Albion. They perform under the Electric Wizard marquee. And yeah, it's pretty bloody doomy. Weighty riffs, sludgy distortion, tons of fuzz. If you're not prepared, then stay away. I've fuckin' warned you...

Does It Doom? Heavy Riffs & Drugs Worship.

 

This time, I want to talk about my guilty pleasures, the music and bands that I loved listening to while pretending to hate them. This was either out of reaction or because I was just too shy to admit that I liked them. But as you grow up, you learn not to care about other people's opinion and being provocative just isn't fun anymore. Back in the 90s most bands had no problem admitting that they liked the Stooges and the MC5 as much as Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. You had never encountered music like this before, and you were at a loss as to how to categorise it, but you were absolutely certain that it was completely amazing! Does anyone not remember the first time they heard "Spine of God"? Was there anyone who said they didn't like it who wasn't an idiot?

As I mentioned in a previous post, all my friends were (and still are) metalheads. It was only natural that we would influence each other. I've never been keen on metal without punk or doom elements, but I didn't mind going to their place and listening to some cool thrash bands, as they didn't have either coming to mine and listening to some trashy garage punk. We all listened to Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Cathedral, Hellacopters and Mudhoney, for example (perhaps for different reasons), but the most important thing was that we all liked them! The same goes for Stooges and Sabbath. For instance, everyone else was going crazy over 'Paranoid', I was the guy who got a kick out of 'The Wizard' (that wailing harmonica!).

And it wasn't just the influence we had on each other as a gang, there were other signs as well. When I first bought and played Black Flag's "My War", I instantly thought it had more in common with "Vol. 4" than with any other punk album. In fact, their label also featured Saint Vitus, who played at an even slower pace than Iommi and Ozzy's band. At the time, both SST bands sounded punk enough to alienate metalheads, yet still metal enough to do the same for punks. They were also psychedelic, with a completely innovative druggy approach. That's what punk was always supposed to be, shock everyone, right?! The same goes for Corrosion of Conformity and Lee Dorrian, a huge punk rock fan whose label is named after a Black Flag song and whose band was as if Iommi was dead and Fred Sonic Smith and Wayne Kramer were replacing him.

Anyway, I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert on stoner/doom genre (because I'm not), but I think I can easily handle a playlist of some of the catchiest and grooviest tracks from different decades that anyone can listen to and agree are good enough to grab a beer and roll a joint to. (I never liked marijuana. I thought of it as a hippie thing and I never liked the idea of laughing all the time for no reason. However, I admit that this plant has beneficial qualities in some cases, at least to some records. I was always a cigarette and alcohol guy, I guess, before I quit them both.) 

Here's a stoner/doom kinda compilation from someone who's certainly not a metalhead or a stoner, but who definitely knows a thing or two about fuzz, wah-wah and distortion. I mean, I've never tried heroin, of course, but I do have a shelf full of different pressings and copies of "L.A.M.F." and a tattoo on my arm, you know... Oh, and I still hate fuckin' hippies!  

1. Born Too Late - Saint Vitus
2. Funeralopolis - Electric Wizard
3. Midnight Mountain - Cathedral
4. Paegan Love Song - Acid Bath
5. Murky Fen - Slabdragger
6. Caravan - Lowrider
7. Greenthumb - Bongzilla
8. Streetside - The Obsessed
9. This Mortal Decay - Beastwars
10. To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth - The Entombed
11. Dixie Whiskey - Eyehategod
12. God Luck And Good Speed - Weedeater
13. State Of Non-Return - Om
14. Picking From The Box - Spiritual Beggars
15. King Of The Road - Fu Manchu
16. Gardenia - Kyuss
17. Cyclops Revolution - Monster Magnet
18. Mad Prophet - Nightstalker
19. Dragonaut - Sleep
20. Empress Rising - Monolord
21. Vote With A Bullet - Corrosion Of Conformity
22. Swan Song - Down