ninehertz

Despite the recent rebirth of the genre and a slew of new blood providing impetus, it is still a challenge to find good stoner rock - there's plenty of it, but to find the hidden gems is to sift through a lot of sub-par music. Not here, and with no surprise. The talents and backstories of those involved in Lorquin's Admiral alone vouch for the quality of this album even before you press play. It is led by Sons of Alpha Centauri, UK stoner rock veterans with a penchant for collaborations in recent times - their last album featured members of Far and Will Haven, and they have previous with Karma to Burn and Yawning Man, showcasing a direct connection to the original grandmasters of the scene.

Here, they team up with three fifths of the original incarnation of Hermano, and boast contributions from a co-op of people with CVs that include Afghan Whigs, Luna Sol and Orquesta del Desierto, a list that should whet the appetite of any stoner rock fan. Centauri always hit the mark and as such I know this is a guaranteed win before I head in. And of course, it is, the opening My Blue Wife is upbeat stoner rock, not too surprisingly of the pre-Kyuss Californian desert school. The album progresses, nice and breezy, smooth and right, with perfect vocals in accompaniment.

It has a simple but perfected formula, this light touch stoner rock sensibility that works so well. My thoughts are drawn to Fatso Jetson's effortless cool on more than one occasion. But there is a wider net cast elsewhere, such as on Could Have Been Forever which reminds me of the Screaming Trees, Aren't We's nod to Masters of Reality and inevitably a clear line to Hermano's body of work on These Lovely Things. Sons of Alpha Centauri may be the odd ones out geographically, but it's clear they were brought up on a rich diet of mid-late 90s stoner rock, feasting on all the little nooks and variances that came alive in that time, creating fantastic music themselves for so long, but also now acting as this perfect vessel for the upkeep and reintroduction to the scene for many who were there at the time.

As it closes with To Temptation, my mind wanders to early-mid Desert Sessions vibes, which actually isn't a bad approximation of the album's sentiment as a whole. Tellingly, the band themselves state that they offer this out to the world not just of the stoner rock of Kyuss, but to those with a kinship with the alternative of the 90s, of Garbage, Screaming Trees and even the Cranberries. It is accessible, and for all that open approach it never feels like a compromise. And best of all - most importantly of all - is it is packed with good tunes, and will act as a perfect summer soundtrack.