Post by thesoundmonitor on Feb 7, 2004 19:43:53 GMT -5
MOUNT CARAVAN
Translations of the Divine
(Independent)
Rising from the blasted ashes of various punk, garage, and metal groups, Sweden's Mount Caravan is definitely partying like its 1999. They're kicking it old school, flying over the desert with enough vicodin and alcohol to stun a platoon of stoner newbies, cruising high on classic, heavy, hypnotic melodies.
It’s like the Kyuss Klone backlash never hit these guys, and I'm here to tell ya thats a very good thing. 'Endless Room' fires up the bowl with some mighty sweet guitar tone, good songwriting desert style, and clean harmonies soaring over all. 'Yaranez' shows
that these dudes are not just about laying back, as the energy is furious. The vocals pose the question: What if the Foo Fighters turned out to be as good as their first album promised? 'Charles Bronson' shows off some middle eastern modes and is the heaviest, doomiest tune of the lot, though I'm damned if I can see what the song has to do with the silent but deadly 70s/80s movie star. Whatever, ‘cause I'm definitely up for the next song, 'Eightball,' cause its so damned drugged out and spacey. Mmm mmm good.
There's a sixth bonus song after the five listed on the back cover, and after that you get quite a bit of noodling, ambient pieces, and song fragments. You may feel that this gives extra value to the disc, but I could have done without it. Somehow it seems to take away from the actual songs. In any case, you've heard this before, but Mount Caravan does it better than you'd have any right to expect. Recommended.
By Kevin McHugh
Artist website: www.mountcaravan.cjb.net/
Buy this album: mountcaravan@hotmail.com
Translations of the Divine
(Independent)
Rising from the blasted ashes of various punk, garage, and metal groups, Sweden's Mount Caravan is definitely partying like its 1999. They're kicking it old school, flying over the desert with enough vicodin and alcohol to stun a platoon of stoner newbies, cruising high on classic, heavy, hypnotic melodies.
It’s like the Kyuss Klone backlash never hit these guys, and I'm here to tell ya thats a very good thing. 'Endless Room' fires up the bowl with some mighty sweet guitar tone, good songwriting desert style, and clean harmonies soaring over all. 'Yaranez' shows
that these dudes are not just about laying back, as the energy is furious. The vocals pose the question: What if the Foo Fighters turned out to be as good as their first album promised? 'Charles Bronson' shows off some middle eastern modes and is the heaviest, doomiest tune of the lot, though I'm damned if I can see what the song has to do with the silent but deadly 70s/80s movie star. Whatever, ‘cause I'm definitely up for the next song, 'Eightball,' cause its so damned drugged out and spacey. Mmm mmm good.
There's a sixth bonus song after the five listed on the back cover, and after that you get quite a bit of noodling, ambient pieces, and song fragments. You may feel that this gives extra value to the disc, but I could have done without it. Somehow it seems to take away from the actual songs. In any case, you've heard this before, but Mount Caravan does it better than you'd have any right to expect. Recommended.
By Kevin McHugh
Artist website: www.mountcaravan.cjb.net/
Buy this album: mountcaravan@hotmail.com