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Like
a slightly busier and singer-less Kyuss, Berlin’s Rotor drop the
desert rock like they hail from the Sahara. The band has made of
their third bluntly titled release 3, a pretty groovy
fried stoner rock jazzy affair. Rare is the occasion that I get
to hear instrumental bands and I don’t end up with my head
between my hands. Yes, I get bored. And annoyed. And at
times I even feel like kicking my stereo. The whole post rock
thing is even starting to get a little old with all this tier
two and tier three bands rehashing the same peek and valleys and
loud to quiet and quiet to loud dynamics and even though
there has always been a shortage of instrumental stoner rock
bands, that is with a reason; you simply have to be either great
at your instrument or you have to have the level of creativity
and talent most bands lack.
West
Virginia’s Karma to Burn was almost able to pull it off in their
eponymous 1997 debut; the music was great and the surprising Joy
Division cover was a standout track, but that wasn‘t a full on
instrumental album now, was it? In that instance, Karma to
Burn had to give in to their label’s (Roadrunner) pressure to
include a vocalist at least in a few of the songs; and it was
those exact vocalized tracks that lowered the album’s overall
quality. There was no match and in some of the songs, it was
obvious they required no vocals to feel complete. Karma to Burn
then parted ways with the label and would go onto releasing two
stellar instrumental rock albums until the band’s unceremonious dissolution in
2002.
Luckily for
Rotor they are not in the same boat as Karma to Burn. For
starters they are in German label Elektrohasch; a label that
specializes in stoner rock and that is clearly cool enough to let
its artists do as their please regardless of the commercial
limitations this might signify. And for seconds, these are
different times; these days audiences are much more receptive to
experimental music, which Rotor isn’t exactly doing but there is
something to that effect here. Being unfamiliar with Rotor’s
two previous releases I was quite surprised to learn that their
music used to feature vocals and that during the compositional
phase of 3 it just sort of came out that the tunes would
be entirely instrumental. And it’s clear why; there is no hole
in these tracks, no space for the vocals. Their sheer presence
would minimize and push to the background the jazzed up drums
and the stellar guitar playing; which weaves truly intricate yet
infectious licks. “V-ger” is astonishing as a second track; it
shows Rotor’s subtle nuances, these Germans are not about
getting heavy but about suave textures and the constant play
offs between guitars, drums and bass. “Hart Am Wind” rocks hard
from the get go but also finds its mushier side towards the
middle. It is changes like these that accentuate each feeling a
little more and make every note worthy of our appreciation. It
would be then be a disservice to the music to add vocals. A wise
decision indeed.
Official Site
MySpace
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