You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
Stöner may reunite desert rock pioneers Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork, but also serve as a cautionary tale for expecting greatness based purely on pedigree.
Between the fuzzed-up blues of 2021's Stoners Rule and the hypnotic grooves of the following year's Totally…, the band found a comfortable spot that, while placid, still delivered 70s-style good-times.
Boogie To Baja shows little of that. Of its five tracks, only two feel like more than half-baked clichés – Night Tripper Vs No Brainer and the title-track both delivering the ethereal jams that made the desert rock scene so beloved.
These are counteracted by uninspired instrumentals elsewhere; the City Kids cover (likely meant as a salute to Motorhead) is somehow more lethargic than even the Pink Fairies’ original, while the befuddled instrumental opener plays out like a Cheech and Chong skit, forgetting that the other iconic stoner pair at least had Earache My Eye to showcase their prowess.
