Quick Hit: MOANING CITIES - "Moaning Cities"

I think perhaps I need to place a permanent office in the midst of the fertile stoner/psych/doom/retro rock country of Belgium. Many of the bands and albums I've highlighted in the past few months have come from that rich rock n' roll province. Today we add one more to the burgeoning list with Moaning Cities, a quartet of interesting blueprint. Operating with both guitar and sitar, backed magnificently by a female rhythm section, Moaning Cities manage to pack plenty of bite and ferocity around ragged edges and furious riffs, co-mingling with otherwise smooth, milky psychedelic power sojourns.

Moaning Cities have been around for 5 years, and have managed to release 3 albums, the first of which is showcased here today. This is because the first album has a more ragged stoner vibe, as does the second album, "Pathways Through the Sail", while the latest release, "D. Klein" is more soporific and spell-binding. The matchless melodies and mammoth music of Moaning Cities can catch one occasionally reminiscing in brief spurts on the fine desert rock of Kyuss. There is nothing direct, no homage, just a recognition that what you are listening to combines power, heart, and musical athleticism, the very best of what rock has to offer.

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DOUBLE TOKE: The Darts - Self-Titled LP / Mad Monkees - Self-Titled LP

I have 2 artists' works to share with you today, so this'll be two Quick Hits in one, which surely can be classified as a double toke, right? The theme today is a punky, garage-y, grungey assault with stoner rock fuzz bombs.



When I listen to The Darts I envision uber-slick rockers from somewhere in Britain, but these nimble rock warriors hail instead from Phoenix and Los Angeles. They display the full battery of stoner assault weaponry with a relentless bass, massive drums, and gargantuan guitar, blasting missiles of massive fuzz, but what sets them apart are the blitzkrieg of vocals from each of the four band members and the razor sharp melodies upon which the assault is laid. It's a formidable vehicle upon which is built an array of quality pieces, all of it erupting with heart and sweat and not a little bit of innate ability, making for music that is thoroughly pleasurable, deeply satisfying, and massively fun.

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Hailing from Fortaleza, Brazil this band of four very special primates delivers a whopping load of fuzz and fun on their self-titled LP, released a year and a half after their self-titled EP. If you're coming across these high octane rockers for the first time then together the EP and LP offer up 14 roaring tracks of imaginative assonance, designed to be played in the loudest mode you can muster.

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Band Submission: Horehound-Doom/Stoner From Pittsburgh, PA

Band Name: Horehound
Genre: Doom/Stoner
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Brief Bio/Description: Blackseed Records & Releases’ artist HOREHOUND, the Doom Metal/Hard Rock outfit from the Steel City of Pittsburgh, PA have been ripping up the metro scene throughout the past year with their live shows. Well-known clubs such as Gooski’s, 31st Street Pub (R.I.P.), Howlers and Club Café have seen the band move up the ranks opening for genre mainstays Karma to Burn, Foghound, and Cavern while developing a concrete foundation and fan base along the way.

Formed in February 2015, the band quickly pooled their experiences and influences to create their heavy yet heavily approachable sound. Vocalist Shy Kennedy explodes into her debut role as front-woman and brings her unique and haunting style to each song. The band’s dual guitar grind comes via Mike Altopiedi (rhythm) and Brendan Parrish (lead), both formerly of the band Perish. On drums is JD Dauer, who brings many years of heavy-hitting to the band while also a regular with rockabilly outfit Memphis Mike & The Legendary Tremblers. David “Wes” Westfall brings a devastating low-end onslaught as bassist and is also currently a guitarist for the band The New Casual.

2016 pushes the 5-piece even further with their debut 7-song LP slated for release April 20th, 2016. A regional tour this summer including dates in OH, PA, MD, and NY are in the works and opening slots for national headliners Order of the Owl, Graves at Sea, and Prong are booked!

The momentum is building at lightning speed. With new music, shows, tours and promotions, HOREHOUND is on the rise, ready for the world to come!
Band Members:
Mike Altopiedi - Guitar/Vox
JD Dauer - Drums
Shy Kennedy - Vox
Brendan Parrish - Guitar
David "Wes" Westfall - Bass
Links:  Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter | Blackseed Records

New Band To Burn One To: Lousy Riders

Toronto, Canada, duo Lousy Riders are about to be one of your new favourite bands. The stoner blues band have just released an EP Worst Is Yet To Come, and it is a serious joyous assault on your ears. Lead vocalist Snow carries a charging vocal as her voice powers over the chords creating a heavy stoner rock vibe as the driving guitar and drums riffs heavy while entwining with stunning blues-heavy song structures.

Get into Lousy Riders now, as stunning songs like ‘Dead End’ can’t stay unnoticed for long. An excellent band with great things ahead of them. 

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Song of the Day-The Neptune Power Federation-"Mind Voyager"

"Mind Voyager" is taken off of the upcoming release "Lucifer's Universe" due out November 13, 2015 on Erotic Volcano Records. It has been three long years since we last heard from the band and from the sounds of it the band has gone through some changes mainly the addition of vocalist Loz Sutch. The music has matured going from eighties satanic party metal to epic seventies-driven heavy occult rock. This song is an ambitious mind fuck divided into three "suites". Fire one up as you thrust into a demonic cosmic world filled with fuzzed-out riffs, mind-bending solos and a vocal that demands your attention. MIND VOYAGER!!! For more information, please check out the following links: Facebook | Bandcamp

Song of the Day-Kroh-"Living Water"

"Living Water" is a new single/video from British female fronted doom band Kroh. Back in May we were given a little taste of what's to come in the way of the two-song release "Precious Bones". Now, we are once again teased by the delicate and passionate doom-laden outpooring of "Living Water". There is so much skull-rattling fuzz that I am still trembling. Hope to hear of a full-length from this band very soon. For more information, please check out the following links: Facebook | Bandcamp

Triple Thursday: Rosy Finch, Pohjoinen, Warchief

Rosy Finch - Witchboro

Let’s get this straight off the bat: Spanish trio Rosy Finch have created a simply stunning record with their debut Witchboro. Blending equal parts stoner, noise, and grunge, it’s a record channelling influences from Melvins to Screaming Females crossing over punk and doom influences along the way...tasty right?

     

Formed in 2013, featuring members of Pyramidal and Hela, the Alicante girl/boy/girl group’s debut record packs a hell of a punch from the off with ‘Ursula’ leading the band down a doom trodden path as the vocals of Mirela Porto and Elena Garcia enrapture as much as they guide you down a dark and scary path of layered riffs and pounding drums that is an enthralling listen. All of the band’s influences come raging out throughout the record with the punk screaming, psychedelic drifting of vocals and guitar picking, frenetic noise assaults, and no nonsense stoner songs that make you ache for the desert sun.

    

The band describe the record as ‘a journey through the soundscape of "Witchboro", a dark and soulless village where the occult and magic meet’ and is split into two parts; Black Hills and Sea Of Trees. The first half of the record is the heavy swathes of stoner that they excel at, while the second half is more of experimental meanderings into psychedelic waters, focusing on hazy vocals and doom-esque instrumentation that captures you in many moments of contemplative hypnosis.

    

Witchboro is an outstanding record, one that will be challenging the top of many a end of year list by the time 2015 is done with us.

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 Pohjoinen - Pohjoinen

The gut-busting sludge/stoner sounds coming from Scandinavia in todays' scene is an impressive feat, making it one of the hottet places for new talent in the market we love, and added to the ever expanding list is Pohjoinen with their self-titled debut, with enough menacing threat to make you run for the North European hills.

   
Three years on from their demo, the Finnish trio have mixed together elements of stoner, sludge, metal, prog, and a bit of doomy death for good measure, and the results are brutal at times. Take a track such as ‘Kuolema’ which takes you on a complete journey covering every venomous grunt or rage filled riff and despairing vocal the band have to offer, and drive you through every emotion with them, whether they bury you in doom or throw you head first into the razor sharp metal riffs and guttural screams; they’re not a band to do things half-heartedly.

    
The native tongue certainly gives the band a sense of an alienating other worldly beast, but the riffs and songwriting allow everyone to cling on for dear life to this assault that Pohjoinen are taking us on, whether it’s a floating doom of ‘Joki’, the gritty stoner riffs of ‘Luovuttaja’ or the death prog of ‘Helvetin Aurinko’. Pohjoinen is not a record for the faint hearted, but if that’s not you, allow yourself to be subjected to their relentless time and style changes and impressive musicianship, it’ll be worth your pulse rating for a good hour or so.

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 Warchief - Warchief

Another band from Finland in our Triple Thursday review, but a slightly different beast this time round as the Jyväskylä band Warchief have crafted a record full of rock and roll stoner songs with experimental wanderings into fields of sludge and grunge thrown in for good measure, and it creates an enthralling listen.

Opening track ‘Give’ fluctuates between gentle soft rock bases before launching into screaming stoner deluges of sheer glory as the seven-minute track closes into a gargantuan wall of riffing noise. The vocals are in English and clean cut, and they work perfectly with the edgy vibes of the music and the youthful spirit evident in a track like ‘Hounds of the Dune’ which is as groove-laden as it is brutal.

    

The closing of the record is split into two 10 minute parts with ‘For Heavy Damage I’ and II, showcasing all of this exciting band’s talents, trawling the listener through every avenue of stoner glory, experimenting with modern day rock jagged edge playing, and doing what they set out to do in “exploring the many dimensions of the rock and roll universe”. Warchief is one of those records where once it’s finished, you take a moment to gather your thoughts, and hit that replay button straight away.

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