Hermano
...Into The Exam Room

John Garcia loves music. In the beginning, there were Kyuss. The tragic - for the writer - split, and out came Slo Burn. Moments of intense pleasure, a fleeting moment destined to fade shortly. But let no one despair: the valiant John has not exhausted the cartridges of his revolver, and out came Unida. An album and a half of excellent craftsmanship and then the end. In 2002, the final breath, Hermano.

Much has been said about these five roamers (refer to a few lines below for the reasons) at the time of the release of the debut album "...Only A Suggestion," and many were the "buts" that marked their existence. But it is not Stoner. But how short it is. But how little originality. But what a great album it is, the writer adds. Yes, good old John Garcia once again managed to earn appreciation from the writer. The same applies to the sequel, "Dare I Say" which, to be fair, while settling on more than decent levels, showed evident shortcomings in terms of freshness and mere groove.

At the dawn of 2007, after a good three years of waiting, Hermano returned with their latest product, the most ambitious from an ideological standpoint. The most lacking in quality. It is ambitious because John Garcia and company thought of introducing a sort of geographical anti-sequentiality in their work, recording the album in different zones of the globe (hence the earlier-mentioned roamers) in an attempt to create a deliberate discontinuity in moods and sound. The attempt did not succeed to the point that the only form of sequentiality can be found solely in the structure and composition of the songs, which turn out to be irreparably static and flat, despite the approach and intention suggesting otherwise. A few glimpses of light are provided by the opener "Kentucky" (perhaps the closest to the debut here), the groovy "Hard Working Wall" and the acoustic delight of "Bona Fide". In between, some good riffs, good vocal work (it’s curious to hear Garcia in falsetto in "Exam Room"), and an excellent production. A bit little to shake off the label of "new band of John Garcia."

Quoting a school cliché, one might say: they have the qualities, but they don’t make an effort. Relegated.