Unida
Coping With The Urban Coyote

First of all, I must say that the album I am about to describe is, in my humble opinion, one of the best releases in the stoner genre among the many that this prolific genre has generously bestowed upon us, so I hope you can forgive me if I intend to calmly dismiss objectivity and everything that comes with it...

At the end of the last millennium, John Garcia, who was by then fully orphaned by Kyuss, after a more than excellent EP with the meteoric Slo Burn, formed this band named "Unida" recruiting, among others, the mighty Scott Reeder and his "sponge-like" bass, and with the first release, they immediately hit it off: "Coping With The Urban Coyote" is the masterpiece and the only official album of the band.

We kick off nice and strong with "Thorn": catchy, direct, it almost feels like listening to AC/DC elevated to the nth degree given how the guitar riff grabs you; the following "Black Woman" (also featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground) is the gem of the album: a breathless 5-minute run, so powerful and intense that you almost feel like you could sink your fingers into the flesh of this woman who turned John's head (Ride with me baby, Just ride all night long...yeah!).

If "Plastic" and "Nervous" remain on levels of normality (far from talking about filler tracks, quite the opposite...), it's with "Human Tornado" and "Dwarf It" that two heavy aces are dealt, especially the first one hits hard with its cocky guitar solo in a "beer, chicks, and high wheels" style (for those who aren't Veneto, roda=wheel).

A special mention for the two more psychedelic and extended songs is deserved: just the strained and suffering voice of Garcia in "If only" is enough to cause a shiver down your spine, while the final "You Wish" is a continuous up and down between whispered voices and guitar riffs as big as boulders for 10 minutes of true inner journey.

In short, 8 songs/40 minutes and lots and lots of class: this is "Coping With The Urban Coyote". A round of applause.