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Nebula, Charged (Sub Pop): These heavy, fuzzed-out
guitar-driven sounds really take you back to the late-'60s daze of
confusion — that interim period between acid trip-outs (i.e.
Grateful Dead) and coke freak-outs (i.e. Abba) — don't they? OK,
OK, so I wasn't actually there (and you probably weren't
either) — that's just how I envision it. The major movement was
fading. People were getting tired of peace and politics (though not
of sex or drugs), but they weren't quite ready for the synthesized
music to come. They put their shoes back on, but they were still
dirty. They removed the braids and dreads from their hair, but they
didn't cut it. They still wanted to jam — just harder. Metal
hadn't fully arrived, but they could smell it in the air — its
roots were sprouting in psychedelic hard rock. Kind of like where we
are right now, post-grunge and pre- ... well, who knows? All of
which, I think, explains Nebula: music to revert to while waiting for
the next revolution (which won't be this big comeback of hard rock
and metal you keep hearing about. The next revolution in music won't
be a return to the past, but likely a twist on it). John Agnello,
who's known for his work with Screaming Trees and Dinosaur Jr.,
produced Charged, the second full-length from the Los Angeles
trio. It's cool and droning, the type of music that gets you to feel
cool too, half-closing your eyes, leaning back in your chair, curling
your lip Mick Jagger-style and, chin up, nodding your head slowly.
Offsetting heavy bass lines with twangy acoustic guitar, the bluesy,
roots-rock "Travelin' Man Blues" has a Black Crowes vibe. Laced with
riffs so heavy they feel like an engine's burning roar, the
semi-static "Ignition" offers wiry guitar lines and mean singing with
loads of attitude. Closing track "All the Way" reverberates with
spacey guitar lines, echoing choruses and floating psychedelic
rhythms. It recalls hallucinogenic experiences where reality falls
away and the warped, out-of-this-world ("but who cares, man?")
visions set in. Traveling back in time can be fun. In Nebula's case,
it certainly is. Especially when it means introducing a bygone genre
to the folks who weren't around the first time. Including me. —
Jenny Tatone
copyright (c) 2001 michael goldberg | design by elephantcloud
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