siLLy puPPy
California’s Mojave desert was the epicenter for all things stoner rock in the 90s with bands like Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age and ZUN as well as the beginning of the collaborative project called The Desert Sessions which started in Joshua Tree, CA in 1997 however for all the bands that came from the Palm Desert and Palm Springs region, they had seemed to rotate around members that were in Kyuss.
SLO BURN is yet another of this long list of post-Kyuss projects, this one being former lead singer John Garcia along with Kyuss producer Chris Goss. SLO BURN wasn’t exactly prolific. Technically this band that included Garcia on vocals, Chris Hale on guitar, Damon Garrison on bass and Brady Houghton on drums only released this sole EP titled AMUSING THE AMAZING. The original EP which emerged in 1996 shortly after the breakup of Kyuss only featured four tracks that just missed the 16 minute mark.
Later unofficial releases would be released as the self-titled SLO BURN would feature five more tracks lifted from the earlier five track demo and released together as complete works sort of unit however only the four original tracks on this EP are of professional quality however “Cactus Jumper” was re-recorded and ended up on Garcia’s 2014 solo album. Although the band had the good fortune to find themselves on the 1997 Ozzfest tour, SLO BURN actually burned out quite quickly and never released anything other than this EP.
As can be expected, SLO BURN sounded a lot like the later Kyuss releases that preceded AMUSING THE AMAZING. John Garcia’s vocals are quite distinct and are the most obvious connection however Chris Hale’s guitar work is reminiscent of many of the stoner rock bands of the 90s as well as the production of Chris Goss however Kyuss’ music was much more densely packed with a glitzier production value and SLO BURN opted to craft a raw and more direct form of stoner rock that relied on simple melodies with a bluesy alternative rock undertone.
Overall this is a decent slice of dessert stoner rock / metal which fits right in as the next step in the Kyuss universe however SLO BURN isn’t as captivating as classic albums from Kyuss. This is definitely stripped down with the emphasis on the rawness as opposed to the sophisticated layering effects that add more psychedelic weirdness. It’s apparent that SLO BURN truly could’ve been the next step for Garcia but he moved on and joined another short-lived band Unida. The four tracks on the original EP are all pretty good but not of Kyuss quality whereas the remaining demo bonus tracks on the unofficial releases are decent but not really overly exciting. SLO BURN was a brief layover for Garcia and will surely appeal to diehard Kyuss fans.