MONSTER MAGNET - Last Patrol
October 23, 2013, 11 years ago
Napalm
Dave Wyndorf’s been to hellanbach, with more of the trauma on his body rent through the recovery process from addiction more than the addiction itself. But now hear this, he’s back in good health, touring, and wielding a MONSTER MAGNET album that is essentially the perfect blend of crazy ancient HAWKWIND worship and accessibility (I really kinda snooze through Dave’s pre-Power Trip catalogue). It’s obvious the guy’s just a knowledgeable and nerdy eater of old obscure hard rock, with just enough Krautrock and punk and weird alt. (he loved BUTTHOLE SURFERS as soon as that happened) coursing through his veins to make it all cool and actually kind of timeless. Plus he loves production, but is smart enough to keep it organic as he massages in lots of creaky, creepy sounds, from weird voices to varied guitar tones. But engagingly, he likes his drums to bash, with lots of snare-on-one-and-three beats, again, in homage to the blanga of Hawkwind. Ergo, Last Patrol is a constantly morphing, contemplative yet entertaining but never too flashy trip through all manner of psychedelic heaviness, uneasy sounds lathered in while Dave and his tribe crash, bang, wallop away at a form of hard rock that charmingly sounds built with one hand behind the band’s collective back. That’s not a slight, but a testimony to Dave’s life-learned understanding of homespun stoner rock.
