ninehertz

Trust Small Stone Records to have brought us a stoner rock album of rare quality in 2025. They’ve been a flagship label for the genre since the good old days. Detroit’s Winds of Neptune have pedigree themselves, featuring an ex-member of 500ft. of Pipe, a band I’d shamefully long not thought of, but reminded here, have dug out their Dope Deal and The Electrifying Church of the New Light CDs for an enjoyable reunion.

Stoner rock has found new ground in the last few years, mutations to evolve and be a relevant force in the current day – but those who have tried to ape the sounds of the past have largely failed. This self-titled album manages to be both relevant and modern and yet harking back to the grand old days without sounding tired or merely a rehash. It is proof that the genre can still produce joyous music.

The first couple of songs have a strut to them, in an almost funk manner, classic rock coated in fuzz and walking with a smiling confidence of their Detroit forebearers of psychedelic garage legend. There are blues rhythms that breath fresh life into this familiar sound, and occasional moments of what used to be known as “southern” stoner rock – here in these moments, if I’d not known the releasing label, I’d have described it as “traditionally Small Stone school of stoner rock” or some such.

The album – eight songs that last more than an hour – doesn’t quite bring the same thrills in its second half, but that’s only the fault of the highs that come early on – there’s still plenty to enjoy. It is perhaps more classic rock than stoner rock, hence my slight reticence, but even still there’s a Hawkwind-ish heavy psych passage, and a really cool chill out track that is practically horizontal that could be from a Brant Bjork album.

It still aggregates out as an excellent record, one which is almost certainly my favourite stoner rock album of the year.