[Thursday] Throwback Thursday - - May 21, 2015

I've been listening to Kyuss a lot lately and so I wanted to write a little highlight about them. Some bands aim to make art, but Kyuss excelled at making awesome shit. I can't think of a better way to describe it; their music is heavy and powerful yet groovy and upbeat at the same time. They make me want to buy a motorcycle and drive it into the desert sunset or something.

Kyuss were the flagship band of stoner rock, which is a sub-genre of hard rock characterized by heavy distortion, downtuned guitars, slow-to-mid tempo and a bass-heavy groove. The band formed in 1987, originally named Sons of Kyuss, in the Palm Desert area. The band is also notable for being the first project of guitarist Josh Homme, who went on to found Queens of the Stone Age. The band's sound was shaped by the fact that they often played at outdoor "generator parties", which were free outdoor concerts in the deserts of Southern California that used gas generators to power their equipment.

Their first album Wretch came out in 1991 but didn't get much attention, although Kyuss was quickly gaining praise for their unique live show. The album is raw and energetic, but it lacks the overall heavy groove that later releases would establish. It wasn't until their next album, Blues for the Red Sun, that they truly broke through. Producer Chris Goss was able to capture their live sound effectively in the studio, and the record was hailed as a flagship album in the emerging stoner rock movement. In 1994, the band was signed to major label Elektra Records and released their self-titled, (also called Welcome to Sky Valley because of the sign featured on the album cover) which is my personal favorite album of theirs. This release has a more developed, psychedelic sound, with lighter desert rock songs like Space Cadet and Demon Cleaner complimenting their usual heavy style. Initial commercial release of the album grouped all 10 songs into 3 "movements", since the band intended the album to be listened to as a whole.

Kyuss's final release was ...And the Circus Leaves Town, which was met with mediocre reviews upon release but has since been hailed as a strong effort. The album continues the trends established on their s/t, ending with an epic psychedelic odyssey called Spaceship Landing. The band broke up shortly afterwards.

/r/indieheads Thread