Planet Rock - USA (2020-04)

104 PLANET ROCK

MONDO GENERATOR

Fuck It

H EAVY PSYCH SOU N DS

+++

Cali-punks return for

first album in eight years.

As he truculently summarises

on the title track of Fuck It,

Nick Oliveri is an angry boy.

:KLOHWKDWDQJHUKDVIDPRXVO\JRWWKHH[ĥ

Kyuss/Dwarves/QOTSA bassist into sticky

situations in the past, it’s a pugnacious energy

that so implacably fuels his Mondo Generator

SURMHFW $VW\SL¿HGRQWKHLU¿YHDOEXPVWR

date, it’s the punk and hardcore of the ’80s

that saturates much of the California trio’s

work. But Oliveri is a desert rat, and laidback

vibes are part of his DNA too. It may seem

like a dichotomy, but here the lazy groove

of Nowhere Man and limber swing of the

UHZRUNHG.\XVV'LHVĪRULJLQDOO\UHFRUGHGE\

Kyuss Lives! for Oliveri’s N.O. Hits At All

VHULHVRI(3VīVHUYHWRFRPSOHPHQWWKHVQRWW\

belligerence of S.V.E.T.L.A.N.A.S. and spit

and bile of It’s You I Don’t Believe rather than

contradict them. Most people mellow with

age, but in Mondo Generator, rock’s last true

bad boy shows no sign of calming down.

CAREN GIBSON

BEST TRACKS: Turboner, Fuck It, Death Van Trip

VARIOUS

The New Wave Of Rock N Roll

EARACHE

+++

Vinyl collection

showcasing

Earache’s

new-breed

rockers.

Any compilation that begins

with Planet Rock favourite

Bomb Through The Breeze by

Hannah Wicklund & The

Steppin Stones, a sort of blues

rock Halestorm, certainly can’t

EHDOOEDG7KLVRQHGH¿QLWHO\LVQ¶W

featuring no fewer than 1 5 artists,

most of whom easily justify their

inclusion. Aside from Californian

:LFNOXQGLW¶VDQDOOĥ%ULWLVKDQG,ULVKDɱDLU

with highlights including Piston’s lusty One

More Day and the superb Revival Black,

whose singer Dan Byrne stands out a mile on

Wide Awake. Elsewhere, Elles Bailey’s classy

EOXHVYRLFHLPSUHVVHVDQG*RULOOD5LRWRɱHUD

ZHOFRPHFKDQJHRISDFHRQWKHLUUHÀHFWLYH

Bad Son. Tomorrow Is Lost play lively, inĥ

stantly accessible heavy rock and will be

KHDGLQJDIRXUĥEDQGELOODW,VOLQJWRQ¶V 2 

Academy to promote this comp on March 10.

STEVE BEEBEE

BEST TRACKS: Bomb Through The Breeze,

Wide Awake, One More Day

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA

Aeromantic

NUCLEAR BLAST

++++

Infectious AOR from

Sweden’s heavy elite.

)RUPHGLQE\PHPEHUVRI

the Swedish death metal scene

to pursue a lovHIRUPRUHVXJDUĥ

VZHHWDQG$ 2 5ĥGULYHQVRXQGV7KH1LJKW

Flight Orchestra have gone from being an

XQOLNHO\VLGHĥSURMHFWWRDIXOO\ÀHGJHGEDQGLQ

WKHLURZQULJKW $OEXPQXPEHUIRXURɱHUV

more Foreigner/To t o/ELO worship to build

RQWKHIHPLQLVWVFLĥ¿VSDFHRSHUDWKHPHVWKDW

worked so well last time around. The synths

DUHORXGHUWKH ¶VĥLQVSLUHGJXLWDUVKHDYLHU

and the interplay between them is as exquisite

DVWKHVWDGLXPĥZRUWK\FKRUXVHVFURRQHGE\

6RLOZRUNVLQJHU%M|UQ6WULGOLIWLQJWKHVHIXOOĥ

fat cheese anthems into the melodic

stratosphere. While Curves brings

the biggest disco ball moment via

VRPHPLGĥWHPSRIXQNSRSĦWDNLQJ

full advantage of the same kit used

on ABBA’s Super TrouperDOEXPĦ

for the most part this is a colĥ

lection of songs that

feels more elaborate

and cerebral than

anything the band

have done in the

past, powered by

enough progresĥ

sive rock sorcery

to transport you

deep within the

distant galaxies they

sing of. AMIT SHARMA

BEST TRACKS: Divinyls,

This Boy’s Last Summer,

Curves, Transmissions HA

RA

LD

N

IL

SS

ON

Coated in
desert dust:
Sky Valley
Mistress.

Super troupers:

The Night Flight

Orchestra.