It’s
been three years since the last album from drug-metal blastronauts
Nebula. Where have they been? On the moon, probably. That’s the thing
with these cats, though – they split for a year or five and come back with
a new collection of space junk that sounds just like it did the day they
walked away from their Fu Manchu gig back in ’97. “Apollo”
is a seamless continuation of 2003’s “Atomic Ritual” album,
in that it’s a full-on napalm beach party of acid-fried stoner rock
tempered, here and there, with proggy instro interludes. Think Monster
Magnet with Mudhoney’s Mark Arm on vocals, and you’ve got. Same as it ever
was, just louder. That’ll be just fine to the vast majority of
dyed-in-the-hemp Nebulons, but if these muthas are ever going to break the
green ceiling and burst out of their cult-stoner band status, they’re
going to have to come up with their own “Space Lord” or “Touch
Me (I’m Sick)”, a hit song that’ll bring in enough non-converts to
really get the party rolling. They still haven’t managed to do that here,
but they do come close in a couple spots. “The Alchemist”
throbs with astounding superglam power; Frontman Eddie Glass’s
oww-oww-oww’s and perfectly synched wah-wah come on like an
immaculately stoned Marc Bolan. “Ghostride” has a little
glam-boogie tiger in its tank as well, and splays nasty shards of
razor-sharp riffage like a nailbomb. Otherwise, though, it’s monkey
business as usual, with lots of hard charging stoner rock, mounds of snaky
pyche-metal riffs, and a not-so-strange sense of déjà vu. ________________________________________________________
It’s
been three years since the last album from drug-metal blastronauts
Nebula. Where have they been? On the moon, probably. That’s the thing
with these cats, though – they split for a year or five and come back with
a new collection of space junk that sounds just like it did the day they
walked away from their Fu Manchu gig back in ’97. “Apollo”
is a seamless continuation of 2003’s “Atomic Ritual” album,
in that it’s a full-on napalm beach party of acid-fried stoner rock
tempered, here and there, with proggy instro interludes. Think Monster
Magnet with Mudhoney’s Mark Arm on vocals, and you’ve got. Same as it ever
was, just louder. That’ll be just fine to the vast majority of
dyed-in-the-hemp Nebulons, but if these muthas are ever going to break the
green ceiling and burst out of their cult-stoner band status, they’re
going to have to come up with their own “Space Lord” or “Touch
Me (I’m Sick)”, a hit song that’ll bring in enough non-converts to
really get the party rolling. They still haven’t managed to do that here,
but they do come close in a couple spots. “The Alchemist”
throbs with astounding superglam power; Frontman Eddie Glass’s
oww-oww-oww’s and perfectly synched wah-wah come on like an
immaculately stoned Marc Bolan. “Ghostride” has a little
glam-boogie tiger in its tank as well, and splays nasty shards of
razor-sharp riffage like a nailbomb. Otherwise, though, it’s monkey
business as usual, with lots of hard charging stoner rock, mounds of snaky
pyche-metal riffs, and a not-so-strange sense of déjà vu.