Do you ever get the
feeling that you’re not alone? That
feeling that you’re being watched…that something just isn’t right…that
something…is just a bit off…that you’re being followed…
One day it just
appeared there…in my Facebook feed thingy.
This weird symbol that I didn’t recognize “|<00>|” …what could it
be, what could it mean? Was it some sort of mathematical equation to
be solved?... Was it a name, or was it a
word? Was it something unearthly trying
to communicate with me? Was it something
to fear, was it some entity bent on harvesting my organs?!?!?!
One day my brother
from another and fellow riff-addict Mark hit me and the music junkie (my actual
older brother Rob) up to go see a band that was playing in downtown San Jose as
they made their way up or down the West Coast, and knowing Mark’s quality
tastes in music we were down. When I
looked up the event announcement on Facebook, there was that symbol again! “|<00>|” staring up at me in this weird
stripey lettering like one of those spirally weird things you look at and it
seems to be moving…was it coincidence...what did it want from me? I wasn’t certain what to think but I had to
find out what it was! I tentatively moved
my cursor over the symbol like a horror movie actor walking down a dark passage
about to open a door onto who-knows-what and pressed my right index finger down
on the mouse button. A mysterious page
opened up with the symbol in its’ large stripey letters across the top of the
page and some nebulous info along with the words “Elvis Doom.” Was it a band?... I didn’t see any video or
song links, but it appeared that it was indeed a band as there was a show flier
with the symbol under the name of the night’s headliner The Great Electric
Quest. What the hell is “Elvis
Doom?” Curiouser and curiouser…
So we went to the
show…and one of my organs was
harvested…my brain! As the four
musicians mounted the stage and began to play, I was struck by the raw power
and volume as the guitarist’s searing singular tone cut through the din like a
chainsaw through butter, piercing and warbling (thanks to his handy-dandy red
Rotovibe pedal) before ripping into a psychedelic blend of blues and metal to
create a sound that was completely alien yet still familiar somehow. Then the singer faced the gallery with crazed
eyes, three foot dreadlocks and, wearing a Freddy Krueger sweater and a single
fingerless glove with the letters “OZZY” across the knuckles like the hand of
the Ozz man himself, and out came a voice that was equal parts honky-tonk and
heavy metal on LSD. They proceeded
through a rip-roaring set with all manner of weird sound effects being produced
throughout by the vocals, guitar and bass, as the drums pounded out in all
sorts of changing time signatures, bringing order out of chaos in a strangely
melodic yet not-of-this-world sound. In
one fell swoop my mind was stolen from me and I was hooked. Fast forward about eight or ten months after
numerous shows in a plethora of bars, some heavy Saturday nights, and even some
Beers in Hell to one of my most anticipated album releases in quite some time.
Several weeks ago,
KOOK announced that one of the tracks from their forthcoming self-titled album
was available for early download through their Bandcamp website, so I went
right over to snap it up. When I clicked
the “download” button though, something strange happened…suddenly I’d
downloaded the entire album, all six tracks, even though on the Bandcamp page
only the one track was listed.
“Hmmm…that’s strange” I thought to myself…that uneasy feeling returned,
was it just an accident of technology, or was something deeper going on
here? Was it some sort of alien
conspiracy?!?!? Well, alien conspiracy
or not, there were six tracks now in my computer waiting for me to open up and
dive in.
Album opener “Play
Dead” begins with guitarist Karl Larson playing a bluesy, fuzzy riff before
launching into a psychedelic stomp through the tale of a love that is
apparently only “mostly dead.”
“So play dead only once because I want you
to
My
life's a bloody mess, I give it back to you
Lay
there I'll tell the monster with the bolts to sing
I
don't care anymore 'cause the bell's about to ring
Pain
- High - Electric - Sky
Well
you're a cold one now and you will be the bride
This
ain't no suicide or a heart attack
Lonely
I'm all alone then you lay next to me
Once
more now to you I say, that the bell's going to ring
Pain
- High - Electric - Sky
Electric
- High - Electric - Bride”
“Not Killing Me”
begins with (former drummer) Mike Donofrio beating out a mid-tempo drum riff
launching into a moody metal tune with a maddening repeating riff from Larson
akin to a chainsaw connected to a wah-wah pedal doubled by bassist Jeff Wilson
with Troy Aschenbrenner’s vocals ranging from almost spoken verses to full
voice screeching choruses before boiling down to the fuzz-toned bass guitar
buzzing into a psychedelic feedback loop, leading to a tripped out equally
psychedelic guitar solo. “Ta-Da/Eye of
Gold” begins with a strange voice predicting the Earth’s doom leading into
Larson’s wah-infused guitar intro before the band breaks into a galloping tempo
as the Earth is burned to ash by the Eye of Gold. “Crawl” opens with a vibrato drenched guitar
as the band starts into a mid-tempo melancholic verse then ramps up to heavier
choruses, featuring Aschenbrenner’s most soulful vocal performance on the
album. It tells the sad tale of a
vampire on the hunt…call it KOOK’s version of a ballad. “Demonize” begins with another maddeningly
infectious riff doubled by the bass before breaking down to drums and Wilson’s
walking bass line while Aschenbrenner croons while channeling his inner zombie
Elvis as the demon’s eye awakes. “Why”
closes the album beginning in a psychedelic wave of warbling vibratoed-out
guitar before launching into a hectic stomping tempo plodding forward with
reckless abandon as KOOK asks “why” the Heaven’s Gate cultists decided to “shed
their earthly containers” in a mass-suicide in the ‘90’s. What motivated them, was it aliens, misguided
hope or just plain insanity?
So here I sit,
pondering these six tracks… “Who does
KOOK sound like” you might ask? That is
a question that is hard to answer, KOOK ultimately, sound like KOOK, and that
is a rare thing these days for a band to have so many familiar qualities yet
sound completely different from everything else out there. Maybe it’s a conspiracy, maybe it’s a cult
movement, maybe they’ve come to steal your mind!!! No, I’m sure it’s harmless. Why don’t you just sit down there and put
these headphones on and stare into this eye of gold and let go of your thoughts
for awhile? I promise, in a few minutes
you’ll feel right as the rain…
-Riffcaster
KOOK will be available digitally on April 8th
from KOOK’s bandcamp page at:
Tracklist:
1.
Play
Dead
2.
Not
Killing Me
3.
Ta-Da/Eye
of Gold
4.
Crawl
5.
Demonize
6.
Why
Album credits:
Karl Larson (guitar)
Mike Donofrio (drums)
Troy Aschenbrenner (vocals)
Jeff Wilson (Bass)
KOOK are:
Karl Larson (guitar)
Eric Wilkins (drums)
Troy Aschenbrenner (vocals)
Jeff Wilson (Bass)
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