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Album Details

• Artist: Brant Bjork
• Album: Somera Sol (w/ The Bros)
• Label: Duna
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2007-10-20

I kind of lost track of Brant Bjork after his Brant Bjork & The Operators album. Seems he has gotten himself a band and is rocking out like his old days in Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Somera Sol is the second album with the Bros (this time including Alfredo Hernandez (Queens Of The Stone Age / and former Kyuss bandmate) and returning are Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson) and Sean Wheeler (Throw Rag)).

This album is essential. It is far more cohesive that the likes of the latest Queens Of The Stone Age. It is much more complete than the past few Fu Manchu albums. Brant's vocals just seem to flow with the hypnotic groove. Sure, "stoner rock" is probably not the most relevant genre today but it doesn't prevent Bjork and his crew from creating one of the coolest albums of the genre.

Now, if the term "Stoner Rock" scares you off thinking that this is going to be too heavy for you, let me explain something to you. Sometimes this type of music gets lumped into the metal realm but really it's no heavier than War or The Cult. Brant never yells and in fact has quite a great singing voice, even if it's not that dynamic. The vocals on Somera Sol are almost not required because this album is about the wonderful groove that they get into with their instruments. See "Shrine Communications" for the best example of this. Think of these guys as a cool jam band, nothing Phishy here. "The Native Tongue" could actually be considered laid back but it still has the smooth rhythm driving you through to the end.

While Brant Bjork may be more obscure than one of his former band-mates projects Queens Of The Stone Age, I would argue that Somera Sol would have a much broader appeal to music fans. Give it a shot.

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