Two half-hours of craze, one from each longitudinal extreme of the USA.
Aggros, "Rise of the Aggros" (Wildfire NYC). Feel the commitment. Cro-Mags hardcore/metal brain trust Parris Mayhew knew he could pack in even more New York teethgrit energy, sludgy triumphalism and surfy slam if he kicked the mouthman off the stage. And Crumbsuckers guitarist Chuck Lenihan sure did push it over the top with his tapping, wah-soaked, terroristic solos, atop the crushing drums of Cobz. But who expected so many fantastical prog-style changes, as in the concluding "City Kids" (which is only a distant radioactive sewer-alligator descendant of the Pink Fairies/Motorhead '70s anthem); or an aching ballad worthy of Procol Harum (sure it cranks at the end) like "Fear View Mirror"; or so many gentle/jazzy touches of piano and organ? 34 minutes of pure glory. Sample/buy here.
Stoner, "Boogie to Baja" (Heavy Psych). This version of "City Kids" is by no means the EP's star, since it has vocals. Look instead to the 10-minute title jam, whose distorto biker guitar (courtesy of Brant Bjork from Cali desert kings Kyuss), distorto biker bass (from Kyuss's Nick Oliveri) and flesh-pounding biker drums (from Ryan Gut) form a primo soundtrack to your gummy-chawin' experience as you ponder the deep meaning of the surreal biker cover, with its owl, its huge moon and the symbolic brains tumblin' out of a flying skull. Truly, these desert dudes know how to whangfracture a dang shock absorber, and the skill also extends to the weird riff and time signature of the introductory "Stoner Theme (Baja Version)," which either loses or gains points for deliberately messing with your head, a theme taken up with the two-part paranoid monotony of "Night Tripper vs. No Brainer," which contains words for no reason, because words mean nothing, nothing at all. Listen/buy here.
* * *
Note: Stoner print their band name with an umlaut over the O. As with Motley Crue, Motorhead and many others, this represents part of a logo or a styling, rather than a spelling, unless pronounced accordingly. Hitler insists upon this distinction.