Almost twenty years since their debut album Black Stone Cherry have become one of the biggest band in hard rock. Blue collar boys playing big riffs that have enough radio friendly melodies to gain them a huge audience, multiple awards and cross Atlantic appeal as it can be argued that they are a band bigger in the UK than they are in their native USA.
The real magic behind BSC is their friendship, these are four men who know each other, are in each others lives and can collaborate almost telepathically. Celebrate is a tribute to this, a seven track EP that features the band knocking our another six originals that will fit right into their current stage show along with a swaggering cover of Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds which features Tyler Connolly of Theory Of A Deadman.
Kicking off with Celebrate they go back to their early days with big riffs and a huge chorus sung with those impressive Chris Robertson pipes. A musical throwback to those rawer first records while Paralysed brings the slickness of their more recent work, especially in John Fred Young's echoed drum sound, while the wah driven riff of Caught Up In The Up Down has plenty of sexy R&B grooves to it.
Writing the songs in guitarist Ben Wells' house many of these tracks began life on the road but with the four men in one room, swapping instruments to make sure the songs sounded just how they wanted. An EP of contradictions there's moments of celebration, the sound of a rock band doing what they love with big joyous rockers.
However there's introspection on tracks such as I'm Fine and especially on Deep, as the band members have faced some serious family hardships during the recording of this EP but it's the bond they have that has got them through these tough times and is exorcised with these songs. More fuel for the fire, more songs in the bank, Black Stone Cherry have lots to Celebrate on this EP. 8/10
Desert Collider - Generation Ship: Endless Drift Through Infinity (Small Stone Recordings) [Rich Piva]
When Small Stone Records announced their latest release there was something familiar about it.
When I looked back in my endless collection of digital releases, I found the debut album from Desert Collider, titled Generation Ship: Endless Drift Through Infinity, from back in 2024. I found limited info on that release outside of a small review on the amazing Outlaw Of The Sun site, but not much else. I did remember it being some killer heavy psych, desert/stoner with some groove, and me enjoying it a lot. Now, after listening to the promo, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Small Stone for grabbing this amazing record from digital obscurity and bringing it back up front, because the eight tracks from the Italian band kick all sorts of ass.
As a starting point for the reader, the band’s bio mentions Dozer, Black Elephant, Kyuss, and Monster Magnet. Yup, that’s about right. But no matter who you use as a reference, when the riff kicks in on Orphans Of The Sky Part I: Generation Ship, nothing else matters. This record is perfectly produced; the most close-to-perfect desert rock sound you can get in 2026. The fuzzy psych guitar tone is so great.
As a starting point for the reader, the band’s bio mentions Dozer, Black Elephant, Kyuss, and Monster Magnet. Yup, that’s about right. But no matter who you use as a reference, when the riff kicks in on Orphans Of The Sky Part I: Generation Ship, nothing else matters. This record is perfectly produced; the most close-to-perfect desert rock sound you can get in 2026. The fuzzy psych guitar tone is so great.
The opener is an epic prologue to a concept record based loosely on Robert A. Heinlein’s “Orphans of the Sky” which I have not read but now need to. It leads to Floating Space Hand, coming at you with a fuzzy psych riff and some reverb soaked vocals that work perfectly for the vibe of this record. This track straight up rips. If you thought that one ripped, you are in for a treat with Sonic Carver, which picks up the pace even more and is some next level high energy stoner rock and roll.
Oh, but when it slows down for the solo you know these guys get it. I know some folks do not have the attention span for ten-plus minute tracks, but believe me when I say Orphans Of The Sky Part II: Disembark is worth your time. It has this slow burn Spacegrass thing musically and also gives me serious Lowrider vibes. Do not miss this one or cut out early, because it starts ripping the place up at the end.
Did I mention these guys rip it up? If you need another example check out ThumpeRRR. The echoed, overlapped vocals on this one are very cool. I did not expect the next track to start with some gentle acoustic guitar and synth, but here we are with Nomads Of The Red Sun, which is very cool but is what really works out to be a five minute interlude, which maybe could have been a couple minutes shorter, just for the sake of sequencing and the run time.
Speaking of which, the next track, Far Centaurus: Drifting Without Guidance Through Interstellar Space, seems to be digital only, I assume to allow for the album to fit onto two sides of a single record. I get why, as it is almost fourteen minutes long, but it is killer stuff and works perfectly in the flow of the record. I hope the deletion and the resequencing on vinyl does not affect the overall vibe. I am pretty confident it won't, given how great the songs are on their own.
The closer, Nebuchadnezzar, doesn’t play around, closing out the record with flat out up tempo Kyuss worship that will leave you wanting more. I am not sure what happened over the past couple years with this release, but listeners are going to be very happy that Generation Ship: Endless Drift Through Infinity has landed, once again, on earth, with Desert Collider ready to take over. 9/10
Mother Crone - Embrace The Death (Self Released) [Rich Piva]
Seattle’s Mother Crone are bringing the downer vibes on Embrace The Death, which is certainly on brand here, as they are not known to play the music you put on to spice up a party. We get Pacific Northwest post rock doom here that is slow and plodding at times, and heavy as hell over seven tracks clocking in at almost fifty minutes.
I say slow and plodding but I think Mother Crone excel when they pick up the pace, like on the opener, Unseen Way. These guys can certainly rip it up when they want to and I almost lean towards calling this prog metal, as a complement. The guitar work is excellent and you can hear the talent as the band morphs from one genre to the next.
Mother Crone - Embrace The Death (Self Released) [Rich Piva]
Seattle’s Mother Crone are bringing the downer vibes on Embrace The Death, which is certainly on brand here, as they are not known to play the music you put on to spice up a party. We get Pacific Northwest post rock doom here that is slow and plodding at times, and heavy as hell over seven tracks clocking in at almost fifty minutes.
I say slow and plodding but I think Mother Crone excel when they pick up the pace, like on the opener, Unseen Way. These guys can certainly rip it up when they want to and I almost lean towards calling this prog metal, as a complement. The guitar work is excellent and you can hear the talent as the band morphs from one genre to the next.
Fever Stone sounds like old Mastodon. Enough said there I think. The title track is a slow burn, but less funeral dirge and more Alice In Chains, channelling the giants of their hometown. Another track I dig is Eye Of Providence, that gives me more old Mastodon but also 16 vibes, with some cool vocals to go along with the progressive heaviness. The epic 12-minute Inner keep is the star of this show. Complex, emotional, with twists and turns, this may be Mother Crone’s best song yet.
It is a bit long, but Embrace The Death has enough to keep some of the more attention span lacking folks engaged. If you like dark, heavy music that leans towards a post rock prog Mastodon, Mother Crone’s new record will be for you. 7/10
It is a bit long, but Embrace The Death has enough to keep some of the more attention span lacking folks engaged. If you like dark, heavy music that leans towards a post rock prog Mastodon, Mother Crone’s new record will be for you. 7/10
Toys That Bïte - You Have Been Warned (Scare Bear Records) [Matt Bladen]
I get a feeling that Toys That Bite like Van Halen, Van Halen when they were fronted by David Lee Roth, when the were smutty, sexually charged and throbbing with Diamond Dave's virility. You Have Been Warned is their debut album and it has a lot of VH influences to it, though the guitar playing is not quite as virtuoso as maestro Van Halen but the duo that wield the axes here are both talented players adding a NWOBHM influence to these heavy rockers.
Formed from a studio based writing partnership, they're what one of my colleagues would call Dad Rock, the sort of band that would go down a storm with the Steelhouse crowd, produced by Ben Turner (Part Chimp) and mixed by Romesh Dodangoda, there's no doubting that this record is slick, packed with shout along choruses but it's also full of songs that in their own words are Genius Level Stupid.
The lyrics do seem a bit immature and outdated, surely we've heard enough songs about Ladies Of The Night, Little Black Book(s) and Gentlemen's Club(s)? While the songs about navigating social media and drinking are all well and good, for me they never really lift You Have Been Warned up to more than just some very competent pub heavy rocking. Perhaps that sounds a little po-faced but even if there's tongues firmly in cheeks here, it's all been done before.
My advice is check them out if you still long for the 80's rock fix but the toys didn't really sink their teeth into me. 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment