Slomosa – Tundra Rock
Release Date: 13th September 2024
Label: Stickman Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Tundra Rock, Desert Rock, Stoner Rock, Grunge.
FFO: Kyuss, QOTSA, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Fu Manchu.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Hailing from the city of Bergen, Norway, Slomosa channel the sprawl of their surroundings through a sweeping signature hybrid of revved-up stoner rock riffage, grungy hooks, and a concentrated punk wallop into a unique genre they call Tundra Rock.
“‘Tundra Rock’ is ‘Desert Rock’ in our terms,” Ben Berdous (vocals/guitar) observes. “A desert doesn’t have to be warm. If you think about it, the biggest desert in the world is Antarctica. In this respect, the tundra is our desert. We thought it would be cool to coin a genre, and it’s stuck to us.”
If you are confident enough to ‘coin a genre’, you’d better also be confident that the music you’re putting out will stand up to the inevitable scrutiny that will come your way.
It’s a good job then that Tundra Rock is superb.
Imagine if the personification of 90s grunge was bundled into the back of a van and driven from the gloomy rain of Seattle to the sun baked plains of the Atacama Desert. Off with the plaid, on with the shades, and dial the riffs up to 11.
Opener Afghansk Rev embraces a familiar laid back vibe before throwing down some tectonic riffage. This is followed by a brace of stoner rock bulldozers, the bombastic Rice and the bluesy Cabin Fever.
One of the many standouts of the album is the contribution of bassist/vocalist Marie Moe, one moment she’s tethering the sound down more securely than a teepee in a typhoon. The next, she’s playing musical hide and seek on the atmospheric Red Thundra, taking the lead then stepping back and whispering “warmer, warmer” as the rest of the band close in around her and the song builds in intensity.
Battling Guns was initially written about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but with its restless shuffling beat that echoes with an uneasy similarity to relentless gunfire, it could be applicable to a conflict around the world.
Both Monomann and MJ bring back the swagger. The former with a stoner groove, the latter with some 90s grunge.
The vision for final track Dune was for it to “be different” and “move like techno does”. There is certainly a hypnotic element to the swirling tribal rhythms and percussion, and perhaps a cheeky wink towards certain Brazilian thrash icons.
If one were being critical, one might say that inventing your own genre for your album could be called egotistical or even cowardly.
If you are that one, then fuck off!
There is only one thing to call this album – essential!
(5 / 5)
