As frontman for the mighty Kyuss as well as a string of underappreciated bands, including Slo Burn, Unida, Hermano and most recently Vista Chino, John Garcia has long stood as one of the most important figures and distinct voices in the desert rock scene. So it comes as a pleasant surprise to find the man returning in quick time following last year’s excellent Vista Chino album, which worked essentially as a throwback to his Kyuss roots, with his self-titled solo debut. What’s refreshing about this album is that Garcia’s song-writing stays true to his legendary stoner roots, yet expands beyond the expected conventions that strongly link his various projects. The strong classic rock influence and occasional bluesy strain bookends otherwise driving hard rock songs stamped with typical Garcia quality and loaded with memorable hooks and catchy anthems.
The album has its own character that distinguishes it from other Garcia fronted bands, with shades of his many interconnected projects filtering through. Garcia’s gritty, soulful voice sounds reliably top notch here, and he’s ably supported by a very capable backing band and full, punchy production which allows each instrument space to shine. Much like Garcia’s prior musical endeavours, there’s a loose, jammy vibe resonating throughout the album, grounded by the more straightforward song-writing and tight no-nonsense musicianship. So the exploratory, psychedelic musings of his various other bands is generally restrained and refined into direct blasts of catchy, hook-laden, yet dynamic rock songs.
‘My Mind’ kicks things off with a powerful, vintage Garcia vocal performance, some catchy riffs, and killer bass work. The song has a wonderful immediacy and adrenaline charged kick that works exceptionally well as an opener. The warm authoritative bass immediately plants its powerful and imposing presence on the album, a feature that stands out consistently throughout the album’s 44-minute running time. While much of the album stays in revved-up rocking territory, there’s ample variety dished up as well; from the fun and rollicking cover of Black Mastiff’s ‘Rolling Stoned’, chilled-out groove of the bluesy ‘The Blvd’, to the mesmerising slice of acoustical bliss and melancholy on closer ‘Her Bullets Energy’. The tantalising instrumentation of the latter features a memorable guest performance from legendary guitarist Robby Krieger from The Doors. There are certainly songs that stand out from the pack, but as a whole the album remains a consistently solid and cohesive package. Only the drawn-out psychedelic ramblings of ‘Confusion’ fails to hit the mark, or fit comfortably with the flow of the album.
Really there’s not a great deal of fault to be found on this impressive solo debut, with long-time Garcia fans unlikely to be disappointed by what he delivers here. By the same token, there’s scant material that can stand toe to toe with his best work or even the highest song-writing points of his most recent effort fronting Vista Chino. What Garcia does deliver is a string of catchy, solid hard rock songs which borrows elements from his previous projects and reshapes them into something fresh, refined and comfortably familiar.
8/10
Reviewer: Luke Saunders