ninehertz

Five years ago, we happened across a band called Antabus from Sweden, subsequently featuring them on our new release podcast. That song, Snowshark, still gets stuck in my head from out of nowhere from time to time. Sadly there has been no further releases from them, but two of their ranks now play in Vikböle Boogie Brigade so we eagerly began this Sidequest.

Being honest, I was slightly wary of the word “boogie” prevalent not just in their name but in their self-descriptions. There is nothing wrong with it per se, but it has historically been used to mask a multitude of sins. Thankfully it manifests here as a cool stoner groove within retro 70’s blues rock stylings, all with a understated flair. Only on the closing Russel do I even think of someone like ZZ Top, but even this has other more modern nods, such as to Shit the Cow, a band they share a recording studio with.

This is music with a heap of soul. Nattvals has a wistful or even melancholic slant to the guitars but there’s also a beauty in here I wasn’t totally expecting. It is a lovely stoner sound, reminding me of great Swedish underdogs like Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra and Abramis Brama, stoner rock that is within the genre for its fuzzy guitars but is as much retro or classic rock performed exceptionally well in the modern day.

There is plenty of variance across the nine tracks too – F-Song has a mid-era Clutch feel while Mighty Hills recalls Masters of Reality a little, then there’s the punk spirit of Stuck in a Bog and the surprising cod-occult doom rock stomp of Landsvägsliftarn. There is a lot to like about Sidequest all the way through, a joyful bundle of stoner blues.