#bongripper

Abrams: Blue City (2024)

Through little fault of their own, Denver, Colorado's Abrams got off on the wrong foot with me because their moniker challenges AC/DC's fixed and non-negotiable position at the very front of my alphabetically- and chronologically-organized record collection.

I mean, what would possess any band to choose a name starting with the letters 'A' and 'B'?

All kidding aside (note: I'm really NOT kidding), 2024's Blue City is Abrams' fifth long-player since their debut in 2015, and that's evident in the confident wall of sound unleashed by Zachary Amster (vocals, guitar), Taylor Iversen (bass, vocals), Ryan DeWitt (drums), and recent addition Graham Zander (guitar, vocals).

But there's a catch: despite their association with iconic stoner rock labels like Small Stone and, in this case, Blues Funeral, the quartet's, precise, densely layered, interwoven guitars owe just as much to '90s alternative rock, in my opinion.

Expertly recorded and produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, High On Fire, etc., etc.), typical six-string symphonies like "Fire Waltz," "Wasting Time," and the tectonic title track actually remind me of the Smashing Pumpkins and Hum, as well as Floridian thunder-pop purveyors Torche (who also happen to be Ballou clients).

For their part, the dissonant guitars of "Turn it Off" and "Etherol" mimic Nirvana and Soundgarden, respectively, while "Death Om" and "Narc" integrate space rock textures, but that's frankly about as close as Abrams get to bona fide stoners like Kyuss or Monster Magnet.

All this being said, far more important than these sonic comparisons is the impressively high standards of Abrams' songwriting, which may not innovate much but recycles influences into consistently engaging material that rarely falters from start to finish.

Heck, if I were younger, still consuming a lot of brand-new music (almost impossible to process in today's all-you-can-eat streaming era), and could be bothered to make lists and bold pronouncements, this would probably be an 'Album of the Year' candidate for me!

Not bad for a band whose name I objected to from the outset, but don't worry, I'm not an amoral Alphabet Tyrant ...

Having sampled and confirmed the quality of its alternative/stoner rock, Blue City will simply have to join fellow alphabetical "offenders" like Aardvark, Abattoir, Absent in Body, and Absu in my vinyl shelf no-man's-land between AC/DC and Accept.

Surely, there are worse fates than that!