BONGZILLA - Amerijuanican

BONGZILLA
Amerijuanican
Relapse Records
4/10





Can a stoner rock band be too damn stoned?

Bongzilla lays out some capably sprawling jams on “Amerijuanican”, but too often, its low-fi sound gives the impression of burned-out lack of direction. Not as mighty as Sleep nor as adventurous as Ogre, Bongzilla get a bit too lost in the haze on tracks like “Kash Under Glass” and the kickoff title tune for their own damn good.

With vocals that make it difficult to discern whether the singer is actually inhaling or exhaling, many fans will find the overall technique to be as unappealing as a garbage bag full of moldy homegrown.

When you observe the groups that are the most hailed within this scene, the most obvious positive attribute that comes into play is a band’s creativity. For those who are under the impression that this is some sort of evolution on the themes Black Sabbath introduced in the late sixties, it begs the question. Exactly where are the advances? The tones are worse, the riffing goes nowhere and the singing is untalented as well as atrocious. When you hear a great song like “The Wizard” from the mighty Sab, you want to sing along. Instead, “Tri-Pack Master” and the similar ilk included here have you wanting to run away.

If you paid five bucks to see this at a bar, you’d feel ripped off. Whenever talentless gurgling and overtly repetitive riffs that a thirteen year old could pick up in a matter of moments became groundbreaking and appealing is beyond notion, but the bottom line is that this record stands as evidence that too much bad weed tends to stunt one’s growth, both in terms of creativity and overall listenability. The idea that bands that pay inferior homage to Sabbath is cool just because the music is packaged in pot leaves is simply ludicrous. Ultimately this record will have you going back to the dealer asking to exchange this bag of swag for some real nuggets.


Written By: Dr. Splifferiffic