[rating=3.50]
If you slogged teenage nights away riffing next to a water heater down in someone’s basement or slamming a drum kit amidst power tools and your kid sister’s bike in a packed garage this album is for you. Heavy Blanket was that same type of band, a trio from Massachusetts who got deep into stoner rock grooves, the difference being they had a guitar god in the making firing off leads, and now have the opportunity to release their jams to the world.
J Mascis brought together his rhythm buddies (Johnny Pancake on Bass, Pete Cougar on Drums) to explore those hazy days with their self titled release. These 6 instrumental tracks are heavy and run long recalling a 70’s vibe in the vein of Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer. A more contemporary comparison may be Endless Boogie, but no band mentioned has a 6-string player as capable and sonically fierce as Mascis. His riffs range from searing in “Corpuscle Through Time” to deep space psychedelic in “No Telling No Trails” to flat out explosive in “Galloping Toward The Unknown”. He is a wizard here working his axe vigorously squeezing out massive tone and texture.
Pancake and Cougar are more then merely bit players as the loose bass rumbles and spastic drums in “Dr. Marten’s Blues” attest, but this is a showcase for Mascis to cut loose and soar free from the constraints of actual songs. Anyone who loves electric guitar should give it a once over, preferably in a wood paneled basement.
