Spiritual Beggars
“On Fire”
(Koch Records)
More music from “That 70’s Show” extras. Pedal loving guitars set the seventies hard rock feel as does the uber-emotional vocal howling. Riffs vary from utter out and out wank fests to heavier than thou Iommi-isms. I’m pretty certain one could get away with calling this stoner rock, but why bother? The only thing the term means is that with computers and modern day production techniques applied to the heavier rock and roll of the seventies whether it be a bit from Led Zeppelin here and a pinch of Black Sabbath there you get lush full-bodied rock and roll soundscapes, and it’s no secret the sweet leaf held incredible sway over the music writing of the hard rock acts of the seventies, but nobody was calling them stoner rock. Besides, it’s pretty rude to reduce somebody or somebody’s music to a one-word archetype: “Stoner.”
If you grew up in the seventies or simply can’t stand to see music progress and want the summer of the U.S. bicentennial to last forever then you should go fetch yourself this album. You’ll be rocking and air guitaring just like you’ve got the spirit of ’76, baby.
