UMUR
"The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues" is the 2nd full-length studio album by hard rock artist John Garcia. The album was released through Napalm Records in January 2017. Garcia is probably mostly known for being the frontman of Kyuss, but he has also fronted acts like Hermano, Unida, and Vista Chino. When the latter mentioned act disbanded in 2014, Garcia opted for a solo career and released his eponymously titled debut full-length studio album in 2014.
The debut album featured a catchy and edgy hard rock sound with Garcia´s strong voice and distinct delivery in front. On "The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues", Garcia takes a different approach, as he has opted to record an album with acoustic renditions of some Kyuss classics ("Green Machine", "Space Cadet", "Gardenia", and "El Rodeo") and some new acoustic songs. It´s not always purely acoustic albums work very well, but Garcia pulls it off pretty well. Both on the strength of his strong voice and distinct sounding vocal style, but also because of the intricate guitar arrangements. I´m often transported back to the most acoustic oriented tracks on "Led Zeppelin III", and that is definitely not the worst album to be compared to.
Playing Kyuss classics in re-arranged acoustic versions is probably a fan divider, as some people will call it heresy, while others will find it interesting. Personally I belong in the latter catagory, and I generally think "The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues" succeeds in bringing a new fresh sound to the material plus the new songs are well written and catchy too. "The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues" is also very well produced, which further enhances the listening experience and upon conclusion it´s a high quality release by John Garcia and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.