After the smoke cleared from the very public implosion of the Kyuss legacy, each of the stoner pioneers embarked on some very different solo adventures. Nick Oliveri seems happy cruising small venues with an acoustic guitar, John Garcia just recorded his new album with Robby Krieger and Brant Bjork just took to the stage at his largest ever London show. So not too shabby as silver linings go.
As you’d expect, he’s a laid back kinda guy. People genuinely like the man, most likely the main reason why his Dave Grohl-esque journey from the drum stool to the front of stage has been such an easy one. And it’s obvious from tonight’s full and diverse crowd that he’s starting to attract more than just the expected stoner old guard in fading Fu Manchu and Nebula shirts.
‘Hypnotic’ is the best word for Brant Bjork’s music; perpetually looping licks that seem to chase their own tail but never actually catch it. Could be his rhythm section genes but the man knows how to right a groove. Low Desert Punk, Too Many Chiefs… Not Enough Indians and Automatic Fantastic from his debut solo album Jalamanta gets the congregation nodding in unison which is about as kinetic as they get and in the stoner world, that’s a standing ovation. As good and stompy Let The Truth Be Known and I Miss My Chickare, they also highlight Bjork’s lyrical weak side with lines that arguably could be lifted from a Dr Seuss book.
Controllers Destroyed and We Don’t Serve Their Kind are his offerings from the new album Black Power Flower, a more frantic and distorted take on his laid back ethos which nuzzle in between his back catalogue without any raised eyebrows. 73 and The Future Rock (We Got It) bring a big finale and with a small section of the crowd breaking with tradition and physically dancing! With this in mind, we’re even more convinced that Brant Bjork could be the next man to leave the Kyuss legacy in his dust trail and not look back.
