Kyuss
...And The Circus Leaves Town

THE REVIEW

The Kyuss are children of the desert, of the dust, of the sun that parches the land and causes hallucinations. Their music narcotizes, verbose in its heaviness, hypnotic in its psychedelia. Some say it is inspired by cocaine.

"...And Circus Leaves Town" is the final act of their adventure, the most mature album of their production. After this work, the group disbanded because that "was the only way to save the friendship between its members." A friendship that apparently survived, considering the plethora of collaborations found in the stoner scene (see the various jam sessions presided over by the family patriarch Homme).

Compared to the past, the group shows greater attention to the melodies of the tracks, which in some cases turn out to be highly evocative, true postcards from the desert. "Hurricane" is a vortex of bass and guitar distorted to the maximum, so much so as to be almost indistinguishable, a true sonic hurricane! The relaxing "Phototropic" opens up immense blue spaces in the listener's mind and leaves a strange sense of raw sadness (with Garcia's voice seeming to come directly from hell). Among the most representative images of the desert, there cannot be a lack of "El Rodeo". The battle of the cowboy Johnny to tame the bull is skillfully recreated by repeated starts and slowdowns of the rhythm (credit to the eccentric bass of Reeder and Kyuss-debut drummer Hernandez). In the desert, moving with small airplanes is everyday stuff, and the instrumental "Jumbo Blimp Jumbo" reminds us of it, a disturbed flight by the wah-wah of Homme's super low guitar. He, as always, is superlative in sowing throughout the album psychedelic riffs capable of giving the track more breathing room (fantastic in "One Inch Man") or weighing it down further ("Thee ol' Boozeroony" and "Tangy Zizzle").

The maturity reached by the group is also found in their attempt to tackle rather atypical tracks for their genre. Examples of this are the dark "Gloria Lewis", a kind of stoner-blues, and "Size Queen", an unsuspected reggae-like track with distorted vocals, brought back to the stoner planet by Homme's incursions.

With the long (over 11 minutes) and heterogeneous "Spaceship Landing," the group satisfies the tendency towards suites demonstrated in the previous "Welcome To Sky Valley." The piece amalgamates (with some forcing) heavier traits with others much drier, essential yet always psychedelic.

The real highlight of the entire album remains, in my opinion, "Catamaran" (cover by Yawningman, Hernandez's former group): a never-so-sweet Garcia and a magical guitar paint a picture in the listener's mind in blue and ochre hues, with nocturnal shades brought by the harsher interludes where the bass and drums dominate.

For the more patient listeners, there's even a bonus track, "Day One." A short piece with a "grunge" aftertaste, and it's not a coincidence: it would indeed be a tribute to Cobain, with a dedication to Dave Grohl and Kris Novoselic for their new solo adventure.

The Kyuss circus officially closes its doors but not the great "Stoner" circus family, always ready to amaze (and daze) us with its desert acrobats.