Stop it. Back away from the computer or microphone slowly and nobody gets hurt. Or, if you must keep on typing or yammering, don't use the words "Stoner Rock."
D o n ' t . J u s t . D o n ' t . I t ' s n o t o n l y l a z y ( c a n ' t y o u c o m e u p w i t h y o u r o w n t e r m s ? ) , b u t i t ' s w r o n g . E v e n m o r e i m p o r t a n t l y , i t ' s s t a r t i n g t o p i s s o f f T h ro t t l e ro d leader M a t t W h i t e h e a d. " T h e r e a r e s o m a n y p e o p l e d o i n g t h e s a m e c h u g g a - c h u g g a r i f f s , j a m s , a n d t e n m i n u t e s o l o s , a n d I ' v e g o t t e n s i c k o f t h o s e c o m p a r i s o n s , " d r a w l s t h e s i n g e r a n d g u i t a r i s t . " S t o n e r r o c k h a s b e c o m e j u s t a K y u s s / S a b b a t h r i p - o ff . "
S i n c e f o r m i n g i n J u l y o f 1 9 9 9 , T h ro t t l e ro d h a s n ' t r i p p e d o f f a n y o n e . S u r e t h e y h a d t h e i r i n f l u e n c e s , a n d s u r e s o m e o f t h e m w e r e s u f f i c i e n t l y s l o w e n o u g h t o l a n d t h e b a n d o n U n d e r d o g m a R e c o r d s f o r t h e i r 2 0 0 0 d e b u t E a s t b o u n d A n d D o w n , b u t e v e n t h e n , t h e g r o u p w a s m o r e S k y n y r d than S a b b a t h , more H e l m e t than H a w k w i n d .
In the time since then, a lot of things happened, most of them not so good."Over the past year and a half, we've had several people close to us die,we've had vans breaking d o w n , w e ' v e e a t e n s h i t o n t o u r s w h e r e w e d i d n ' t s h o w e r f o r w e e k s a t a t i m e , w e m o v e d f r o m S o u t h C a r o l i n a t o V i rg i n i a w h i c h t u r n e d o u t t o b e a l o t h a r d e r t h a n e x p e c t e d , we've been broke, and we had to find a new drummer ," recalls W h i t e h e a d .
T h e r e s u l t o f t h e b a n d g o i n g t h r o u g h t h e m o t i o n s a n d s b e i n g r a k e d o v e r t h e c o a l s o f l i f e ? H e l l a n d H i g h Wa t e r , t h e n e w d i s c f r o m t h e b a n d . . . " I t ' s a s t a t e m e n t , " s a y s
W h i t e h e a d. " T h e r e a r e t h e m e s t h a t r u n t h r o u g h t h e e n t i r e d i s c , b u t i t ' s n o t a n e g a t i v e t h i n g ; w e ' v e b e e n t h r o u g h a l l t h i s s h i t b u t n o b o d y ' s g o n n a s t o p u s f r o m p u t t i n g o u t t h i s r e c o r d . " A f t e r s p e n d i n g j u s t t w o d a y s t o r e c o r d t h e d e b u t , H e l l a n d H i g h W a t e r m a r k s t h e b a n d ' s f i r s t t i m e i n a r e a l s t u d i o w i t h a p r o d u c e r , n o n e o t h e r t h a n A n d re w S c h n e i d e r , w h o h a s w o r k e d w i t h e v e r y o n e f r o m t h e B o s s t o n e s to Cave In to T h e B l u e M a n G r o u p.
" We l e a r n e d s o m u c h r e c o r d i n g w i t h h i m , " h e r e l a t e s . " R i g h t o f f t h e b a t h e s a i d , ' R o c k m u s i c i s g o o d f o r t w o t h i n g s : d r i v i n ' a n d f u c k i n ' ; I c a n d r i v e t o i t b u t I c a n ' t f u c k t o it yet.' So we slowed some things down a bit and the songs suddenly had whole new chemistries." "This album's a lot different than our first album, too," he continues.
" T h e s o n g s ( o f f E a s t b o u n d a n d D o w n ) w e r e a c o l l e c t i o n o f s o n g s t h a t B o (L e s l i e , g u i t a r i s t ) a n d I h a d d o n e o v e r t h e y e a r s , a c o l l a g e o f o u r h i s t o r y , w h e r e a s t h i s a l b u m i s much more focused and all from a single period in our lives, hence the title."
T he disc encapsulates everything good in rock music in one package, a debt to the past that the current crop of Scandinavian rockers such as H e l l a c o p t e r s e m u l a t e s o w e l l combined with latter -period C . O . C . redneck metal with a punk spirit and ethos that is tempered with an infusion of real melody . T he definitive cut is lead track
"M a r i g o l d , " w h i c h a s t u d i o h a n g e r - o n s a i d " r e m i n d e d h i m o f a s n o w p l o w s c r a p i n g d r y p a v e m e n t i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e n i g h t , " l a u g h s W h i t e h e a d . " I t h i n k t h a t ' s p e r f e c t ! "
Perfect...and don't forget it.