Monster Magnet - Monolithic Baby!

Album Title: Monolithic Baby

Artist: Monster Magnet

Year Released: 2004

Format Owned: Digital Download

Band Lineup: Dave Wyndorf (vocals, guitar), Ed Mundell (lead guitar), Phil Caivano (guitar), Jim Baglino (bass), Bob Pantella (drums).

Track Listing

1. Slut Machine

2. Supercruel

3. On The Verge

4. Unbroken (Hotel Baby)

5. Radiation Day

6. Monolithic

7. The Right Stuff

8. There's No Way Out of Here

9. Master of Light

10. Too Bad

11. Ultimate Everything

12. CNN War Theme

Good old fashioned stoner rock this time round. Crunchy guitars, driving bass lines and tunes that you'll keep humming for weeks after you listen to it, and probably won't even remember where you heard them. I'll be honest, I only started listening to Monster Magnet recently after a few of their tunes featured in Sons of Anarchy, but they slot nicely into my collection along with bands like Fu Manchu, Fireball Ministry, Second Coming, QOTSA and Clutch.

As for this album, it starts with a bang and doesn't slow down until it leaves you lying exhausted at a point where you just can't take any more. This is an album that does exactly what it says on the tin, as the entire thing is truly monolithic. It's got a huge soundscape, with three guitars spreading the sound out, and while all the songs have enough variation to be recognisable as separate entities they also sound like they belong together, and one song would very easily segue into the next. This is especially clear on Radiation Day and Monolithic where the former simply fades into the latter.

As for the individual tracks, well the run from tracks 3-6 takes the solid start provided by "Slut Machine" and "Supercruel" and kicks it up a huge notch. "On The Verge", "Unbroken (Hotel Baby)", "Radiation Day" and "Monolithic" are all great tracks which work really well together and just shift up another gear from the already fairly rapid pace. Following that run are two interesting cover versions, Robert Calvert's "The Right Stuff", and things then slow down (relatively) for Ken Baker's "There's No Way Out". "The Right Stuff" seems slightly out of place amongst the rest of the album, but "There's No Way Out" simply feels right and the three guitars and layered vocals really give a feeling of vast space. "Master of Light" comes on like a desert rock Reverend and the Makers with electronic beats underneath the guitars and Wyndorf's vocals, it's got a rhythm that makes you want to dance, and if I found out that it was to be used for a club scene in a Blade or Underworld film I would understand completely. "Too Bad" is all jangly guitars and filtered vocals, sounding for all the world like a laid back STP or even the Foo Fighters in one of their lighter moments, then during the instrumental break sounding for all the world like Unledded era Page and Plant.

"Ultimate Everything" weighs in at 7:25, with a massive solo at the end. Probably the sort of thing that is an acquired taste, but if you like tripped out solos this one's for you.

Final track "CNN War Theme" is very, very North African in feel, and again feels very much like Unledded era Page and Plant with the layered instruments and sounds that you just aren't expecting to hear on a rock record, and again it works very well.

This is definitely an album for wide open spaces and warm weather, it's pure feel good rock music, and it feels like it needs room to breathe. Put simply if you want to enjoy this to the full, buy a convertible, put the top down, turn the album up to full blast and try and keep the stupid smile off your face as the riffs wash over you.

It's not a flawless album by any means, but it's certainly worth more than one listen, and that run of tracks between "On the Verge" and "Monolithic" more than makes up for the few low points.

Rating: 7/10

NOTE: The US version of the album has two bonus tracks, "King of Mars 2004" which is a re-recording of Dopes to Infinity's "King of Mars" and a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs".