By Jonny Bakes
When it comes to fuzzy stoner rock, it’s often difficult to escape drawing comparisons with Josh Homme. Through QOTSA and Them Crooked Vultures he managed to drag those fuzzy sounds kicking in screaming right into the mainstream spotlight and introduced scores of the modern generation who may have otherwise overlooked the genre completely. But this makes things difficult for other bands in the genre as they have to pull soon getting special or of the bag to avoid being compared to those bands and allowing their own music to define them.
This is where Giant Dwarf come into play with their appropriately named debut LP ‘Giant Dwarf’ (see what they did there?). These Western Australians promise something a little different by blending in some sun-baked psychedelia into their fuzzy heaviness. And in case that wasn’t enough, they even promise the inclusion of some more unusual instruments – with a sitar making an appearance and even a didgeridoo, but no wobble board as far as I can tell, which is probably for the best! Looking at this album cover I can tell that I could be in for something good here, it’s a simple striking image of a walrus surrounded by celestial bodies in a desert neatly contained within a circle and superimposed on a white background. But we all know that the cover is no way to judge an album…
So, first impressions? This is a real solid, heavy, fuzzy album. The vocals are nice and clean leading to some great vocal melodies, and as much as I wanted to avoid drawing this comparison there’s clearly some influence taken from Josh Homme in places. But musically there are some elements that help Giant Dwarf stand out, notwithstanding the unusual instrument contributions. There’s a few changes of pace throughout the album, with some riffs sounding like something the Black Keys would release if they were a bit ballsier (‘Golden Walrus’ for example) to other faster slightly heavier tracks like ‘Kepler’. But ultimately this album is just solid fuzzy stoner rock, which is partly what it claims to be. Yes there are elements of psychedelia blended in but these aren’t particularly in your face and often end up blending nicely into the background.
‘Kepler’ is easily the track that stood out most on this album and is one that I keep coming back to. It’s got a really catchy chorus that has been bouncing around in my head constantly since my first listen, and even now I find myself muttering “Black is the colour of night and the colour of white is the colour of death.” This also maintains an upbeat pace in its fuzzy guitar riff and heavy bass lines which are accompanied with a wide variety of drum fills. This is definitely a song that will appeal to fans of Queens of the Stone Age, which would explain why it’s one that stood out to me!
So, there we go, this is a pretty strong debut album from Giant Dwarf which will particularly appeal to fans of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats as well as those bands I’ve already given enough mention in this review. It’s certainly a pleasing listen but I did feel that after a while, for me, it became background music a little too easily. So while I enjoyed listening to Giant Dwarf, it’s not an album that will grab you by the balls and drag you on a musical adventure; instead it’ll just gently suggest that maybe you should join it (as long as it’s no bother, of course).
- ‘Giant Dwarf’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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