“Let me tell you a story. Me and Nick were jamming for like four or five hours or so and we’ve played together for years and I said “Let’s call the band Stöner” and he said “Yeah!” True story.” Such were the sage words spoken by Mr Brant Bjork to the audience at Glasgow’s G2 on the 28th April 2022. I know, because I was there, and damn I’m glad I was to hear some of the songs from the new album ‘totally…’ get a live airing. Well, just in case you’ve been living under a rock and not heard of Stöner, or if it’s like not your scene, man, the band is composed of Kyuss alumni and titans of the Desert Rock scene Brank Bjork and Nick Oliveri, this triumvirate being completed by sticks man Ryan Güt, and ‘totally…’ is their rather excellent follow up to 2021’s ‘Stoners Rule’; with such a fast turn around of albums, as well as the numerous projects the members are involved in, maybe indulging in the sweet leaf causes some folks to be prolific creators rather than slackers?

‘totally…’ starts with the thumping ‘Party March’, a call to arms for all those who are wanting to just have fun, the normally ire filled delivery of Nick Oliveri’s vocals being tempered throughout with a knowing humour, a sideways wink to the audience subverting his normal “angry man” image as he demands the listener enjoy themselves. The good times keep on rolling with ‘A Million Beers’, but with Brant Bjork taking on the lead vocals in far more mellow style, his laid back delivery somehow matching the surprisingly upbeat tempo of the track, with Ryan Güt laying down a barrage of fast jazzy beats. As the name of the band suggests, speed is not their thing, and ‘Strawberry Creek (Dirty Feet)’ is so laid back that it’s practically horizontal, fuzzed out riffs looping hypnotically through the song, the track washing gently along like the watercourse in California that I imagine it is named for. Things get even more trippy with follow up ‘Space Dude & The Burn’, its eight minute plus run time being infused with all the THC you’d imagine from the title. ‘Stöner Theme’ follows, a mish-mash of anti-hippy movie sound-bites played a slow tidal wave of sound that moves with all the speed of flowing resin; I’ve no idea why the band don’t use this as their intro music as they head on stage as it just sums them up perfectly.

All remains low key and low-fi with ‘Turn it Around Now’, and ‘Driving Miss Lazy’, either of which have the feel of travelling through time from some seventies biker movie sound track, each being perfect to accompany scenes of Harley-Davidsons being ridden across a desert scape by denim clad and helmet free protagonists. The album is brought to a conclusion by the ‘Great American Sage’, an easy-going ode to the Desert rock that the band play so perfectly.

‘totally…’ is a surprisingly concise album, despite its loose, almost improvisational delivery, an organic quality that is a testament to the skill and experience of the Stöner, an ability that they demonstrated amply live, their practised interaction allowing for songs to be built on and jammed out to epic proportions. By the time this review is up the band will have left the shores of the UK, but have a fair few to go on their European leg. If you can get to the shows, do it, and if you can’t, then buy the album, tune in, and Stöner out.

(9/10 Spenny)

https://www.facebook.com/StonerBandOfficial

https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/st-ner-totally