Doc Pot, Smoky McFly, and the 88 Mile Trip

88 Mile Trip ~ Through the Thickest Haze (2015)

 Back in 2013 I did my first review for Ride With the Devil, and it was for 88 Mile Trip's debut EP. Now, going on two years later, some of my favorite Canadians have let me in on their brand new album "Through the Thickest Haze". It's one of the best things going in stoner rock right now, even if you haven't heard of them yet. Overall, you immediately can tell the band has found their groove, grown together and even further nailed down their individual crafts since the EP came out. To me, the vocalist has made the greatest improvement, really settling down into his style and owning his huge dynamic shifts with authority. The guitars are still fuzz masters, but just a little less often this time around it seems, opting for using some newer but still cool tones. The drums are still banging along, hitting all the right spots. The bass makes good use of the mids, really giving some head on punch to the low end of the spectrum. With "Through the Thickest Haze" bringing on nine new tracks, I've been having a lot of fun with this album, blasting it just about everywhere I happened to of been the last few weeks. While any of the songs could serve as my favorite of the album, "Burn the Saints" grabbed my attention on the very first spin. With a fuzzy blues guitar opening, it takes a few moments for the band to fall in, joining with the other guitar's southern scream, and the bass and drums locking down the low end groove. The track ebbs and flows over the course of almost eight minutes, returning to the song's original "Kyuss meets Lynyrd Skynyrd" styled riff for another go around after the half way mark. The second half is a lot of jamming and a screaming guitar solo once you let it really get going. While the album isn't out for public consumption yet, I've added a video of one of the new songs, and you can always head over to their bandcamp and get acquainted with their EP while you wait for the new album. Be sure to check back in with us, as we'll have all of the details for you when the album goes live.

~Skip

 For Fans Of; Kyuss, Lowrider, Switchblade Jesus

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On The Road Again...

88 Mile Trip ~ Self Titled EP (2013) 

This being my first review for the blog, I thought it appropriate to choose a group that has really made an impression on me since I was introduced to them a couple months back, so enjoy the trip. The artwork may be a bit bland by some standards (I'm a fan of simplicity in some cases), but what's inside is all that matters. The "Back to the Future" sample in the first track pretty much sets the tone for the whole EP. What begins next is 30 minutes of some heavy as hell Stoner Rock, and I love every second of it. The fuzz in this EP is enough to make anyone sit up and take notice, the guitar sound is absolutely drenched in it, save for certain parts, but then you have the addition of a super heavy, yet groovy bass line in every song it would seem, and when the drums and bass aren't doing their own thing, they hook up and burnout like a good pair of drag slicks. And all of this fuzzy, heaviness is interlaced with vocals that aren't expected, but welcomed nonetheless. The vocal performance tends to remind me of Witchfinder General in spots, which can't be a bad thing, right? Now, while this is going on, you have some guy on a drum set banging the shit out of it in perfect time, it's like a puzzle and all the pieces fall together perfectly. I had wanted to get into some of the individual songs, but I think that would prove way too long of an endeavour, instead you get an overall description of the band's individual sound. I will say that "Swamp Disco" is probably one of the grooviest songs I've heard in a very long time, it's an epic closing track, you can easily get lost in the hypnotic drum and bass rhythms in this one. But you don't have to take my word for it, go find yourself a fat sack of some good grass, smoke up and go HERE, and make your own judgement.
~ Skip

For Fans Of: Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Switchblade Jesus, Red River Revival, Top Dead Celebrity

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