Saturday October 24th
at
3 Harvard Ave. Allston, MA

[URL=http://www.myspace.com/cortezboston]Cortez (Last show of 2009)
The Resurrection Sorrow (from NY ex-Tides Within)
Birch Hill Dam
Blue Aside (ex-Palace in Thunderland)

9PM 21+

Cortez
Cortez started off like a house on fire – band came together real quick, started gigging, immediately signed with Buzzville, did a quick Euro tour – but once they kicked out the original singer, they seemed to excel more at floundering. But now they've got a new (new) singer – Matt – and man alive, can this guy sing. Cortez always toed a more dogmatic, traditional stoner/doom line and it'd be easy for them to get lost in the shuffle if they settled on some yahoo who was good at occasionally in-key hollering. But this guy has range, going from clean and booming to a growly bellow. Injected new life into existing songs like “High Life” and added impact to the new material, most of which is on the faster side and all were great.

The Resurrection Sorrow
With riffs schooled in bluesy realism yet deep and punishing enough to splinter the consciousness across vast expanses, NYC's The Resurrection Sorrow are set to shake things up. Featuring ex-members of Murphy's Law, After Dark and Malstrom, this relatively new band is made up of scene dogs, dudes hell-bent on following the long and winding road to rock...resurrection. The Resurrection Sorrow play bittersweet sludge reminiscent of Down meets Danzig (Downzig?) with qualities all their own to top off the influences. Occult and obtuse references from vocalist Alex intertwine with more "regular life" passages any depressed or blue collar rock fan can latch onto, so there's both escapism and the day-to-day offered. All-in-all, this is a strong band that has a real chance if they keep grindin', one of the current crop of NYC bands like Honor Among Thieves, She Wolves, God's Green Earth or Seventh Void, who aren't afraid to keep it on eleven and drown in fuzz heaven.

Birch Hill Dam
Stoner rock has a lot of arms & tendrils that spread like either a tarantula…or a disease, depending on your perspective, I suppose. Of course, like thousands of guys & dollies, I loved Kyuss and Fu Manchu (still do) but like many genres, have gotten weary over the years, of the countless semi-flaccid sound-a-likes. Of course, there have been some good ‘uns, like Australia’s Datura & now Massachusetts’ BIRCH HILL DAM. The name was the first thing that caught me on this one. I like it: different, geographical, can stand the test of time, not getting dated. And the music deserves it. These 4 guys take the groove of the stoner realm guide it in the direction of a heavy Southern vibe, bringing names like COC and the NOLA scene to mind.

Blue Aside
The band plays a brand of Psychedelic Doom meets Progressive Stoner Rock and they have more than enough musical ability to stand out amongst other bands in the field of this heavy music. The original element of the band is in the vocals that have a other-worldly quality that can only be described as trippy. "The Traveller Of Time And Space" sounds like a fuzz rock version of "Hawkwind" in many ways but with enough originality in the sound to make it sound unique. The production is a bit on the lo-fi end of the spectrum but this just adds to the cosmic feel of the songs. "Otis Sun" starts off with a heavy riff before moving into a 70's Space Rock style of playing. Very Pink Floydish in the way its executed, melodic with a dramatic feel. In terms of Doom, they have a "Sons Of Otis" way of riffing but once again played with a 70's feel. The guitar soars over the top of the sound with some "David Gilmour" inspired bluesy lead work, in fact "Otis Sun" reminds me a little of the "Pink Floyd" track "Echoes" in the way it builds and builds. This is a great demo but only two tracks long so it just leaves you wanting to hear a lot more. This is 70's Classic Rock, Stoner Rock with elements of Doom all rolled into one nifty little package.

Tomorrow night. Some good bands if you're into stoner/doom.