THROWBACK 1983 || Black Sabbath: "Born Again"

Black Sabbath have had their fair share of rebounds over the years - need I mention their Ozzy-helmed 13 comeback being nominated for a Grammy? - but for my money none of their resurgences have been more overlooked by history than the post-RJ Dio album, Born Again.

Vista Chino: "Barcelonian"

As much as I hate to say it, if Josh Homme was Kyuss' secret weapon then John Garcia was easily their weak link. I've always found his voice too thin and labored for the kind of bluesy bluster he's going for, so frankly - as long as Queens of the Stone Age was still hitting their mark - an actual Kyuss reunion wasn't something I actively pined for.

I got one anyway... sort of.

Black Joe Lewis: "Skulldiggin"

Black Joe Lewis hasn't mined the same success as fellow Austinite Gary Clark Jr. when it comes to riding the crest of retro-blues rock that the Black Keys and Jack White have helped to popularize. Perhaps it's because they've always represented somewhat of a moving target, their 2009 debut Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! largely consisting of James Brown vamping, while the 2011 follow up Scandalous found Lewis and his Honeybears delving deeper into P-Funk.

"Skulldiggin" takes the band even further left field, the crushing riff and claustrophobic production nearing 70's metal levels of heaviness. Electric Slave isn't out until August 27 (on Vagrant), so time will tell if this is a new direction or just a one-off. With Black Joe you never can tell.

DJ Shadow: "Listen" [feat. Terry Reid]

Remember back when Moby blew everyone's minds by releasing a techno album steeped in old school folk blues? Yep, 1999's Play was not only the Mob-ster's high water mark, but it also marked the last time anyone gave a shit about him. Needless to say his breakthrough was absorbed into the zeitgeist but those innovations have rarely been regurgitated in the decade since.

Perhaps taking note of recent successes such as Bobby Womack's The Bravest Man in the Universe and/or Norah Jones' ...Little Broken Hearts, both of which saw the artists updating their palette with minimalist, tasteful electronic touches, DJ Shadow enlisted semi-obscure UK blues singer Terry Reid to guest on "Listen", one of two new tracks on his newReconstructed: The Best of DJ Shadow comp. Shadow's production takes a back seat to the catchy, traditionalist verse-chorus-verse structure of Reid's singing. Hopefully this will spark a resurgence in the blues great's career. He's fucking great on this.

Graveyard: "Goliath"

It's fitting, really: the reunited Witchcraft signed to Nuclear Blast for their latest, Legend, which is where fellow Swedes Graveyard landed for last year's breakthrough album, Hisingen Blues. Both bands are among the elite at what they do, which is basically a souped up 70's blues metal that studiously ignores any influences from the last 30 years. Whereas Witchcraft like to throw a little folkiness in the mix, though, Graveyard just wants to boogie.

Lights Out will be released October 26 on Nuclear Blast, with the "Goliath" single already out and sporting a non-LP b-side, "Leaving You".

Witchcraft: "It's Not Because of You"

If "It's Not Because of You" is any indication, Witchcraft have gone light years beyond their early Sabbath / Sir Lord Baltimore worship and are now right in the thick of Queens of the Stone Age / Jack White solo turf. A bluesy yet melancholy strut underpins the jam friendly riffing, Magnus Pelander's soulful vocals eschewing heavy metal conventions altogether for something more egalitarian, more rock.

Legend is out September 25 on Nuclear Blast. In the meantime head over to Metal Injection for my roundup  of Metal Blade's recent reissue campaign.

The Company Band: "House of Capricorn"

The Company Band - in case you don't know - is a supergroup / side project for Neil Fallon (Clutch), Brad Davis (Fu Manchu), Jess Margera (CKY), and James Rota (Fireball Ministry). Yes, it's a Viva la Bam-certified ensemble, with all the scuzz boogie implications that entail. Of all those bands they predictably sound the most like Clutch, but it's definitely a more streamlined version of the latter's stoner blues rock. Basically Company Band : Clutch :: A Perfect Circle : Tool, if that makes any fucking sense.
(via Antiquiet):

Pontiak: "Lions of Least"

I somehow overlooked these guys at SXSW last year, but they push the same kind of bluesy, boogie down buttons that Black Keys push without really sounding much like them.  If you're willing to content yourself with loose analogies you could also characterize this as White Stripes with more balls.  Whatever, "Lions of Least" is the distilled essence of all that was great about post-Zeppelin 70's hard rock.  Get your horns in the air and shut the fuck up.

Echo Ono will be out on 2/21/2012.


Pontiak - "Lions Of Least" from stereogum on Vimeo.

1990: "Seeing Things", The Black Crowes

You already know the hits... to death, probably. Released in January 1990, Shake Your Moneymaker was one of the first monster albums of the new decade. No fewer than four of the album's ten songs have established themselves as quintessential hard rock classics, and twenty years later it's hard to find a bar jukebox in the U.S. that doesn't play "She Talks to Angels" every 10 or 15 songs.

"Seeing Things" was also a minor single (one of the few for which no music video was made) but is largely unfamiliar to the casual Crowes fan. It's fairly formulaic by the band's standards, and the gospel overtones invite open comparison to the superior "She Talks to Angels", but it's a catchy enough cut that, had it been released on one of their later albums when hit songs were in short supply, it likely would have been handed down as one of their more popular tunes. As it is, "Seeing Things" sits proudly perched atop the second tier of Crowes material.

1990: "As the Years Go Passing By", Gary Moore

More guitar hero swellness, from a guy who admittedly didn't always not suck. I mean, shit, look at that photo: