Sunday, February 20, 2011

Lost Classic - Wooly Mammoth 'The Temporary Nature'



It is one of the frustrating things in the world  as a music fan, when presented with various polished turds/ summer dance anthems/dubstep remixes of the Thomas the tank engine theme to see a truly great band, who by rights should be outselling Bieber and  his satanic cohorts ten to one , languishing in the depths of obscurity.Sadly , this is is how it is with Washington DC stoner rock troubadors par excellence Wooly Mammoth , whose non ascension to fame and riches is one of the greatest crimes in recent music history.

The band's sole full length effort in nearly eleven years , 'The Temporary Nature' takes all the best bits of heavy music of the last forty years and boils them down to their key parts , no bullshit, just lean, intelligently crafted rock anthems. From the irresistible ,swaggering opening salvo of 'Head Full Of Collision' , to the almost unbearably catchy 'Black Spider,Red Spider' , to the prowling menace and primeval stomp of the title track   , 'The Temporary Nature' is a hands down , stone cold rock classic. Forget stoner and doom rock cliches, and the lingering scent of posers like Wolfmother and Priestess , this is the real deal .The band in fact have more in common with godafathers of grunge like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains  than any of the aforementioned spliff toting wannabes .It would be hard to imagine  Andrew Stockdale, for instance,give the raw impassioned , warm performance that WM frontman Zac Eller tears from his skinny frame throughout the album.

The band have since toured America numerous times with kindred spirits such as Stinking Lizaveta and Weedeater , but have so far failed to deliver a follow up to 'TTN'  , although some formative tracks have appeared online, and on their myspace page , and have shown the band in fine, stomping, creative form. Hopefully , when and if a follow up does arrive , this great band finally gets the recognition they deserve.

Play Loud- Ste


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