Spirit Caravan
Jug Fulla Sun
Tolotta
Attention all “Stoner Rock” fans! Stop what you’re doing and find this album.
Back yet? OK.
With a name like “Spirit Caravan,” I intuitively thought “must be some sort of Black Sabbath clone – I hope.” I was right on target. This is mind-blowing slow heavy metal blues with incredible “stoner” guitar solos and lots of bizarre comic book fantasy imagery. “Sea Legs,” for example, gets down to business with a hot babe from Atlantis…
Looking further, it seems that Spirit Caravan hail from Wheaton, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C. and Tolotta Records is a spin-off of Dischord. Then it turns out that the band’s frontman, a cross between Pete Steele and Ian Gillian, is none other than Wino, who’s been part of the metal scene for hundreds of years in bands as well-known as the Obsessed and St. Vitus.
I don’t know what to make of the “stoner rock” moniker, it sounds to me like heavy metal… The band is dirty, covered with tattoos, long-haired, and ripped-up jeans. They’re a heavy three-piece that recorded this masterpiece in someone’s basement. Dig into “Healing Tongue,” “Fang” (about blood drinkers), “Kill Ugly Naked,” and “Cosmic Artifact.” For those in need of something to crank while you stare at the ceiling for hours on end in a darkened room after a long day this will blow your mind. Something has returned…
Tolotta Records, P.O. Box 4412, Arlington, VA 22204; Tolotta@dischord.com
