Brant Bjork delivers a new endeavor here in 2020 with a great hard rock/stoner rock album that feels like each song builds on the previous one wrapped together for a wide variety of sounds with the smooth reliable and repetitive guitar riffs that keeps you bewildered accompanied by driving drums and great smooth vocals.
The first standout track to me was “Jesus Was a Bluesman”, which caught my attention and left me waiting for more. The Heavy Psych Sounds label sure had a hit with this album in my opinion. The very next track, “Cleaning Out The Ashtray”, truly started blowing me away. Up to this point, I was familiar with the Heavy Psych Sounds label, but had never listened to Brant Bjork before.
“Cleaning Out The Ashtray” has a terrific guitar break/solo that comes out of nowhere and is so reassuring in its sound – its milky, smooth, very welcoming, and fits the tune extremely well. It’s a great album this far in, at times containing flourishes of high notes on guitar that accentuate the rhythm of the songs perfectly.
“Duke of Dynamite” has some great super distorted guitar breaks, very fitting of name – reminiscent of explosive dynamite. The song “Shitkickin’ Now” really keeps the tempo up and continues that explosive feel from the previous song going with a fast-paced bluesy jam.
“Stardust & Diamond Eyes” has a great funk feel to it that really brings diversity to the album and rounds it out, with a classic psychedelic shuffle sound with the drums that has nice accentuation with some bongos – and the tune gradually lays back nice and easy as it transitions to the final track.
“Been So Song” is a terrific finish to a really awesome album that has a great acoustic sound that plays you away in a melancholic and very caring sound, wrapping up Bjork’s vision of the album both neatly and softly such that the listener is interested in hearing the next project.
-A