Double Shot: GEEZER and HORNSS
California indie label Ripple Music has been putting out some of the best stoner/retro/doom/etc. records for years. Today sees Ripple full-length releases from New York's Geezer and San Francisco trio Hornss, with STB Records handling some excellent vinyl versions.
Geezer belie their upstate New York roots with some seriously spaced-out desert jams on their follow-up to 2014's EP Gage. "Sunday Speed Demon" starts the album with a shot of cosmic boogie, like if Clutch followed ZZ Top out into Death Valley with some illicit substances. Kyuss worship is the easy reference point, and one both fans and detractors will make. Geezer goes deeper than that though; there is an underlying vibe and certain hooks that recall the old gods as well. Sir Lord Baltimore and Cactus might be enjoying a renaissance with the legion of 'new/old' bands cropping up over the last decade, but few replicate what those bands were good at: the rubber band effect. The ability to stretch a slow-burn jam to great effect ("Sun Gods") yet also tighten up and bring some brevity to the proceedings ("One Leg Up") with equal aplomb. It might be November, but Geezer has an almost Pavlovian effect on rolling down the car windows and turning up the volume.
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Further down the lava-lamp spectrum is Telepath, Hornss' second full-length. Where Geezer rode a groove built on space particles and sun-scorched sand, Hornss deliver their tunes via volcanic bongs and more low end than a brontosaurus. There's something to be said about a band that decides absolutely everything MUST be coated in fuzz; we're not sure what that something is, but trust, it's good. There's some Hawkwind/JPT Scare Band weirdness going on, filtered through massive, deliberate riffs that Acid King should be jealous of. When things kick into high gear ("In Fields Of Lyme", "Sargasso Heart") one can almost picture Ozzy jumping and clapping on the side of the stage. Every cut is a quick punch, which is rare for a sludge/stoner band; the longest song on Telepath, "Old Ghosts", clocks in at a mere 3:19. This is a net gain for the genre. Way too many bands are worried about writing 12 minute epics that end up going nowhere but the unmemorable bin. Hornss are setting a good precedent with great songs, and listeners can't ask for more than that.
