“I do like Steak. They’re the real deal. They’re mean. They’re lifers.”
If that quote from Mr. John Fucking Garcia doesn’t pique your interest in the UK’s Steak then I don’t know what will. On their first full-length following up some impressive EP’s (We reviewed the latest, Corned Beef Colossus, earlier this year), Steak deliver in spades.
From the opening fuzzed out twangs of “Coma” through to the final pings of chaotic closer “Old Timer D.W.” (A modern day Southern-fried “Mondo Generator”, if you will), Slab City is a veritable stoner rock tour-de-force. To ease old fans into the new material there’s even an updated version of “Liquid Gold” with a different mix but still just as meaningful as the day it was birthed on the Corned Beef Colossus EP.
Elsewhere, the Kyuss references are bound to pop up again when the title track really gets into the groove with a riff that would make a 19-year old Josh Homme jealous. But if you’re looking to further those comparisons then try out “Pisser” when the man himself, John Garcia, pops up and drops some lines of knowledge during a massive riff-laden breakdown.
“Quaaludes and Interludes” provides a short and sweet, ahem, interlude for SC until “Roadhead” explodes from your speakers to turn it up once again. Then “Machine” and “Hanoid” provide a one-two punch that’s pure rawk ecstasy. If Kippa’s smooth delivery or Reece’s blistering solos and riffs don’t sway you, especially on that latter track, then you might want to check your pulse.
From the desert wasteland of England: it’s Steak! I know, right? They make sounds not of their country and not of this Earth because great music transcends area codes.
Slab City is out in North America on September 9th through Napalm Records. You can order yours here.
