#fuzz rock

WAY BACK TO WHEN THE FU TORE A PATH OF FUZZ-FILLED FUN THROUGH THE IBERIAN LANDS.

PICS INFO: Spotlight on a poster design promoting a gig for the American stoner/fuzz rock band FU MANCHU, performing live in Madrid, Spain, on October 6, 2016 & October 7, 2016 at the Razzmatazz in Barcelona.

"Obviously these goats ain't kings of the road, neither hell on wheels."

-- BRANCA STUDIO (Barcelona-based graphic design studio)

Tales from Beyond the Firmament is the new album by Rijeka, Croatia based psychedelic/stoner/space rock act The Freak Folk of Mangrovia, released June 28, 2024 on No Profit Recordings.

Listen to the full album now:

fuzz rock || 2024 || Cologne, DEU || Free download codes

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chillwave || 2024 || FRA

TONY ALVA -- IMMORTALISED BY THE FU (AND VICE VERSA): STAY HEAVY!!

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on front cover of "The Action is Go" (Mammoth Records, 1997), the fourth album by American stoner rock band FU MANCHU, featuring a photo of Z-boy Tony Alva poolriding the Dog Bowl, 1525 San Vicente Blvd, Santa Monica, CA. 📸: Glen E. Friedman

Spirit Caravan: Elusive Truth (2001)

Vinyl pride week continues its rainbow-pattern parade with this weed-green pressing of Spirit Caravan’s second and final full-length (not counting their career-spanning omnibus, 2003’s The Last Embrace), Elusive Truth.

By my count, this was Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich’s eighth studio LP with three separate bands, up to that time, but let’s have some fun and list them together, shall we?

Born too Late by Saint Vitus (1986)

Mournful Cries by Saint Vitus (1988)

V by Saint Vitus (1990)

The Obsessed by The Obsessed (1990, recorded in ‘85)

Lunar Womb by The Obsessed (1991)

The Church Within by The Obsessed (1994)

Jug Fulla Sun by Spirit Caravan (1999)

Elusive Truth by Spirit Caravan (2001)

Many more releases and bands would follow, of course, and Wino’s unmistakable talents as songwriter, guitar shredder, and gravel-throated doom poet, would anchor most all of them, building to one of the most intriguing and extensive discographies in metal.

But if I were to pinpoint the thing that set Spirit Caravan apart from the rest, it’s that they were incrementally dosed with psychedelic influences, likely inspired, in part, by the ‘90s stoner rock movement, and manifested as perhaps the closest thing to fuzz rock available during the second-to-third millennium turnover.

For evidence, look no further than Elusive Truth highlights like the mass hypnosis of “Black Flower,” stoned spirituality of “Find It,” sobriety plead of “Cloudy Mirror,” and the eponymous “Spirit Caravan” which epitomize this power trio’s distinction from previous projects.

Not surprisingly, subpar material like the title track, “Futility’s Reasons,” and closing sleeper “The Departure (Of Quetzalcoatl)” usually err by plodding into the ground like a second-rate Vitus, while contrasting punk rock bursts like “Lifer City” and “Outlaw Wizard” simply feel displaced here.

But let’s raise a glass to bassist/vocalist Dave Sherman, who sadly passed away last year), but got his customary turn at the Spirit Caravan microphone on the grinding “Retroman,” which also doubled as another proof-of-concept for his newly launched endeavor, Earthride.

That fine group (and several more) would keep Sherman busy after Spirit Caravan’s disbanding, but Wino was even busier with Place of Skulls, The Hidden Hand, and various Saint Vitus and The Obsessed reunions, while drummer Gary Isom maintained a somewhat lower profile.

Nevertheless, despite their limited discography, Spirit Caravan still hold a special place in my ‘Wino Hall of Fame’; maybe because their set at Brooklyn’s North Six, in 2002, put me face to face with this underground icon for the first and arguably most memorable time.

I’ll wrap with some heroically poignant lyrics from this album’s title track:

“Fly on angel, fly through hatred's veil; Fly on, fly on, lofty heights prevail; Stride on warrior, still your path's in shadow; Stride on, stride on, find the golden meadow.”