Dear readers, the supposedly “landmark” age of 50 is now well and truly behind me; does that make a difference to how I live my life? Nope, not one jot. However, there are significant times in popular music that are far below the life expectancy of this bloke living in Britain. Once upon a time rock, and indeed, as it was at the time “pop” was pretty much considered an ephemeral commodity, and the whole idea of an “anniversary” release was a thing akin to the flying cars of science fiction. Well, sorry to “pop” fans, but rock and metal is far more enduring and immune to vapid trends than regularly charting bum gravy, and the stalwarts of British stoner rock Gorilla are here to prove that with the release of their two decade old eponymous release, now with the added codicil ‘Maximum Riff Overdrive”, that now is the time for some much deserved exposure of no nonsense music, but with the added availability on vinyl for the most hip of you out there.

Long since apparently recorded on CDs made of pure Unobtanium, Gorilla are plain and simply the essence of uncomplicated denim clad stoner rock goodness, entirely distilled into a bottle of rough as arse booze. ‘Good Time Rockin’ does indeed rock the good times, but with a Queensberry rules ignoring punch delivered below the belt with a weighted glove, an unashamedly dirty low blow of stoner goodness. If the short pounding attack of the opening track was not for you, the band then trips lethargically into the drawl of ‘Coxsackie’, a slow THC infused blues drag that sounds like it was not a mere 20 years ago, but hailing back from the early 70’s slog of proto-metal. If that dirty goodness were not enough, the album then delivers ‘Roachend Salad’, a “yeah, yeah, yeah” slice of sleazy sustenance practically guaranteed to have the long of hair and wide of denim flare romping and a-stomping to the riff. By the time this dirty minimalist three piece settle back for the Motorhead tinged groove of ‘She’s Got A Car’ you can practically smell the sweaty denim they wear, complete with a patchouli oil tinged whiff; nothing of Gorilla is pretentious or contrived, it is, to quote the late, great Bill Hicks, played from the fucking heart!

In stark contrast to the preceding stomp, ‘Buzzard’ meanders through the acoustic mellow of Led Zep III, before being kicked aside by the Cuban heeled stomp of ‘Nowhere To Go But Down’, a melancholic tribute to the dirty blues of days of yore, lifted up from the self-created haze by an electric solo that practically battles the bluff and bluster of the rhythm section before a bluegrass harmonica echoes from the beyond to reduce all into the deep and distant past. If that number was not enough to get denim clad retronauts tenting/flooding their jeans, the crawl of ‘Acorn Brain’ is an unequalled slice of time travelling dirty blues, let alone the fuzzed out goodness of ‘Forty Winks’. By the time the practically epic and deceptively titled ‘Iron Ball’ trips along, with its opening bluegrass chill, shortly stomped into the Southern sludge by a ten-ton riff of dirt, it is practically impossible to pigeon hole Gorilla into one time, let alone one slot. Think of a sleazy bit of rock from the past sixty years, where man first thought to amplify his guitar, and Gorilla have been there already, absorbing the vibes, and distilling it down to its most concentrated goodness for the modern listener. I know this album is a re-issue, and the site you are reading prides itself on its cutting edge dedication to all that is new and dark and atmospheric, but, considering the original releases were apparently pressed into “unobtanium”, this album deserves to be recognised, and indeed, purchased.

(9/10 Spenny)

https://www.facebook.com/GorillaRockin

https://gorilla-rock-n-roll.bandcamp.com/album/gorilla-maximum-riff-mania-2