Sunday, 22 September 2013

Album Review: Vista Chino - Peace


Vista Chino - You may not be familiar with the name but you will be aware of their music. Their origins go back to 1987 when they operated under the name Katzenjammer and later Sons of Kyuss. The “Sons of” was dropped in 1990 and they went on to be one of the most respected rock bands of the 1990s. After four killer albums they disbanded in 1995 and passed into the annals of history. Fast forward to 2010 and the unthinkable happened: a Kyuss reunion. After a raft of legal disputes and line-up changes they briefly became known as Kyuss Lives before landing on Vista Chino. A good number of years have passed since their heyday and the members have shuffled around a bit but make no mistake, Vista Chino ARE Kyuss and their new album Peace comfortably sits alongside their very best work to date.

The core of Vista Chino is made up from mainstays John Garcia (vocals), Nick Oliveri (bass) and Brant Bjork (drums). Guitarist Bruno Fevery is the only newcomer but he more than holds his own. The elephant in the room is the exclusion of former member Joshua Homme but, truthfully, not only does he not need Vista Chino (you can hardly say that his day job with Queens of the Stone Age has been a failure) but they don't really need him either. It wasn't Homme's personality that really shone through in Kyuss but rather the almighty tone of his guitar and Fevery replicates it admirably while still adding his own flourishes. And that is the overall impression that the album leaves; it is recognizable while kicking at its own margins. Production duties were handled by Brant Bjork, severing the band's long-standing ties with desert rock visionary Chris Goss. It is to Bjork's credit that it will probably require you to look at the liner notes to notice anything has changed behind the mixing board.

The first few tracks on the album are absolutely killer even if they are starting to sound a wee bit familiar. That is not a knock on the band's material at all (the fuzzed out 'Dargona Dragona' could easily be an outtake from Blues for the Red Sun) but rather a reminder of their legacy. How many times has the name 'Kyuss' been used as a byword for hard-hitting stoner rock? There is no need to dwell on any of this because this album is more than up to the task of taking your mind off such concerns and sending it on a journey. John Garcia still sings like Ozzy Osbourne's trailer park dwelling cousin and he hams it up at every given opportunity. The rhythm section of Bjork and Oliveri are as impressive as always, creating a powerful bedrock for the album to rest upon. It is when all four men synch up that the sparks really fly. 'Planets 1 & 2' takes Sabbath-ian guitar riff, fuzzes it out, and rides it into the sunset. Songs like this are like a challenge to the listener, daring you to say that this doesn't live up to classic Kyuss. Just try it yourself and see how hard it is. The album closes out with its most unhinged track, 'Acidize? The Gambling Moose'. Something tells me there is a story behind the title but it never becomes clear over its meandering 13 minute duration.

What made Kyuss so engaging from the get-go was their redefinition of what this thing called “heavy metal” was and could be. Metal started in the basements and garages of 1960s England and by the 80s had flourished into a full-blown cultural revolution in America that packed out stadiums across the world. Kyuss pushed away from this metropolitan grind and took their music to the open expanses of the California desert. Their dedication to groove, riff, and feeling over masturbatory solos and reckless machismo spoke to a generation of those disillusioned with the genre's mainstream exposure. Vista Chino have not forgotten that point of difference and, if anything, lean on it even more heavily. There is unlikely to be a conventional single from this album as taking even a segment of Peace away from the context of the whole record could dispel some of the magic. The name on the label might be different but Kyuss lives!

Rating: A-
Recommended tracks: Dargona Dragona, Planets 1 & 2, Adara

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