SLO-BURN - Amusing the Amazing EP (1996)
Malicious Vinyl
1. The Prizefighter
2. Muezli
3. Pilot The Dune
4. July
Ah, the Mohave Desert. Where I was born and the place I escape to when I need to uh, escape. So I'm still a bit amused that it took me this many years to finally crack open the rich Cadbury egg that is its local music scene and feast on the sweet sweet goo inside. I have listened to a handful of stoner/desert/doom acts for a good many years, but didn't really dive into it with my best bong forward until 2004. One such discovery was SLO-BURN, the band commonly known as vocalist John Garcia's first post-KYUSS endeavor. What a brief and incredible jaunt it was.
KYUSS fans will be right at home with Amusing the Amazing, but what initially might appear as a copy, or even second rate version, of the modern founders of desert rock reveals itself to be quite an accomplished work. The riffs are heavy, the vocals snarling, and the drums could knock you down. This is basically a hidden gem you find when you stumble into some random bar in the middle of nowhere. "Oh good, they have bourbon that isn't too watered down, and some padding left in this stool here. Jesus, who the fuck is this band!? They are marvelous!" Then you and 3 other people completely relish in a musical revolution that nobody will ever pay attention to, a moment when a few longhairs (some in spirit only) are on a higher plane than ever thought to exist.
This album is worth searching for just for Garcia's performance, as it is quite possibly the best he ever did. The picture on the back of the CD case shows him looking young, pissed off, wearing a wifebeater, and with smoke. There is something quite telling about this photograph, given this visual aid the sound and quality of this 16 minute EP just makes perfect sense.
9/10
Malicious Vinyl
1. The Prizefighter
2. Muezli
3. Pilot The Dune
4. July
Ah, the Mohave Desert. Where I was born and the place I escape to when I need to uh, escape. So I'm still a bit amused that it took me this many years to finally crack open the rich Cadbury egg that is its local music scene and feast on the sweet sweet goo inside. I have listened to a handful of stoner/desert/doom acts for a good many years, but didn't really dive into it with my best bong forward until 2004. One such discovery was SLO-BURN, the band commonly known as vocalist John Garcia's first post-KYUSS endeavor. What a brief and incredible jaunt it was.
KYUSS fans will be right at home with Amusing the Amazing, but what initially might appear as a copy, or even second rate version, of the modern founders of desert rock reveals itself to be quite an accomplished work. The riffs are heavy, the vocals snarling, and the drums could knock you down. This is basically a hidden gem you find when you stumble into some random bar in the middle of nowhere. "Oh good, they have bourbon that isn't too watered down, and some padding left in this stool here. Jesus, who the fuck is this band!? They are marvelous!" Then you and 3 other people completely relish in a musical revolution that nobody will ever pay attention to, a moment when a few longhairs (some in spirit only) are on a higher plane than ever thought to exist.
This album is worth searching for just for Garcia's performance, as it is quite possibly the best he ever did. The picture on the back of the CD case shows him looking young, pissed off, wearing a wifebeater, and with smoke. There is something quite telling about this photograph, given this visual aid the sound and quality of this 16 minute EP just makes perfect sense.
9/10
