El Buzzard
Tranquilizante Del Elefante
4
I’m not even sure where to go with this one. Stoned out, fuzzy pot punk rock/ metal with a suitably hazy beads on black light production and a scummy atmosphere that leaves you feeling covered in filth. For some reason the same cigarettes, beer, and strippers smell that I wake up with after a night on the town graces my nostrils whenever I fire this up, which won’t be often after this review, as unfortunately it’s just not my thing and I’m pretty glad when this short little album/ long EP (10-minutes) is over.
Those expecting the same sonic girth as say High On Fire should look elsewhere for their smoke filled grooves as El Buzzard are severely under produced in a sort of garage rock sort of way - it's righteously honest but also grating.
Adding to the grating feel is the vocals of Troy Cooper who almost attains Goatsblood or Sun of Nothing like acidity with his gravelly high pitched scream, but unfortunately he leaves the music behind as it fails to live up to his spiteful screech, slogging through dunes of swampy, mossy foliage ridden, uninspiring stoner rock.
None of the EP’s six tracks came remotely close to entertaining me as Cooper’s harsh vocals clash messily with the skuzzy, barroom punk riffs and the whole thing explodes like a broken centrifuge machine full of Cuervo, roofies and piss. The final bong hit for me is the unsettling and needless instrumental closer, “The Custodian” which made me grind my teeth to dust. The same can be said for the album's real tracks "Medicina", "Pillar of Fire", "I Like It", "Fatal Blast" and "I Got Shot" - none as entertaining as their titles would have you believe.
Some of you more bloodshot eyed, oil blooded types may inhale this with glee and revel in its intentional rawness, but overall, instead of the laid back, drawn out, wafting chords of most stoner rock, EL Buzzard left my nerves frayed and my eyes wide with the bitter saltiness of a 3 day Meth binge - and that’s not up my alley.
