“These songs were not B-sides or leftovers from any of the other projects. These songs were plucked from my career and I kept them in a dusty old cardboard box and every morning I’d look at ’em. And I actually felt bad. I was, like, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get to you. Hold tight!’ I collected 44 songs throughout 20 years that were special and very personal to me.”
So says the man of the hour, Mr. John Garcia, via phone in a recent interview with Rock and Roll Fables (Full interview coming next week). From the 44 songs collected, 11 ended up making his debut solo album and they are most definitely not B-sides and otherwise.
Rocking from the start with the slow burnin’ “My Mind”, John Garcia sounds exactly like, well, John Garcia. But if you thought you knew this influential vocalist, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet. JG manages to capture the magic from all of his other bands: the best of Kyuss, the best of Slo-Burn, the best of Unida, the best of Hermano, the best of Vista Chino…but it’s not a “best of” by any means.
The greatest accomplishment of Garcia’s first solo outing is that, despite his unmistakable voice, the album sounds like nothing he’s done before. It’s more “hard rock” than “stoner rock” if you’re looking for labels but those signature Homme/Fevery-style guitar licks still pop up (Check out “Flower” and “The Blvd” especially).
If you like that desert vibe, however, “5000 Miles” has got that in spades for you laying on the grooves and the riffage thick. Later still, “Argleben” and “Saddleback” hit another groove sweet spot on the album. Garcia also does a solid job bringing things full circle with a standout performance from The Doors’ Robby Krieger playing flamenco lead on the “Planet Caravan”-esque closer “Her Bullets Energy” while looking to the future by covering current Canadian rockers Black Mastiff”s “Rolling Stoned” earlier on the album.
If you live for the groove and for the rawk, then it’d be in your best interest to pick up John Garcia on August 5th through Napalm Records. Some pretty sweet pre-order packages are available here.