18 Speed Tranny – Fluid www.18speedtranny.com

Their name brings to mind shemale robot anime, but 18 Speed Tranny are, in fact, a psyche-stoner band from Chicago. Previously known as Mindcharger, these swampy mammoths ladle on big syrupy doses of 70’s dope rock here. “Fluid” is the operative term on this disc, as 18ST freeform through the spidery cracked mirror of fuzzy groove metal like a drunk with wanderlust, barreling into spacey acid metal here and there, but ultimately landing face first into the greasy confines of contemporary stoner rock. Hard to say whether a song called “Stonerrockchick.com” (the ‘dotcom’ part figures significantly in the chorus, by the way) will win them friends or hecklers, but it does make it plainly obvious that these cats are true believers in the church of rock and roll. Still, “Fluid” is filled with more mud than blood, so if you’re looking for tight, hooky thunder rock, than you’ll have to look elsewhere- but if bluesy slow burners with bellbottom solos and the odd boogie metal chugfest sounds like your bag o’ tricks, than these multi-speed trannies will lubricate your mind but good.