Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3/5 Released: May 29, 2007 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov |
As an original member of Kyuss and an early incarnation of Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork knows a thing or two about driving guitar riffs and stoner-boogie grooves. Bass and drums are heavy on Somera Sól, and Bjork’s vocals are often covered over with reverb – both tricks that fans of his previous work will be familiar with.
Unfortunately, at times, Bjork seems a little too in love with the ‘stoner’ part of his stoner-rock persona. Repetitive guitar riffs on ‘Love is Revolution’ and ‘Shrine Communication’ overshadow Alfredo Hernandez’s frenzied drumming, and combine that with the uncomfortable David Lee Roth-meets-Steven Tyler impression that Bjork pulls out on ‘Freaks of Nature,’ and there are certainly some questionable decisions made here.
There are glimpses of hope, though – especially the energetic ‘Oblivion,’ which puts the rhythm section at the front, allowing the guitar to chime in once in a while, without getting boring. If only the whole album had found this perfect balance of pot-induced relaxation and heat-fuelled delirium.
Though there are times when he shows a deft touch with the genre similar to Josh Homme, for people unfamiliar with Bjork’s history, he’ll just come off sounding like a QOTSA super-fan.
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