SUPERVILLAIN – Earthquake Machine

Although the band admittedly “partakes,” it’s not entirely correct to label Supervillain as “Stoner Rock.” They are sharper than your average sludge, while still retaining that “under the influence” hypnotic quality. Vocalist Morgan Adams has a whiskey-spiked voice, reminiscent of Quiet Riot’s Kevin DuBrow at times. The double entendre “get down on your knees and prey to me” is perhaps the set’s cleverest lyric.

Spacey guitar noodling, a la “acid trip” Hendrix, and slow, rolling rhythms serve to lull the listener, while the noggin-nodding “Never More” steams with a Southern-fried influence that offsets the band’s East Coast edginess. Still, the down-home, fuzzy production evokes the lower latitudes, and the band seems like they would be more at home among palm trees than pines. But, in a nod to the pot-drenched counter-culture that emerged in the late 60’s in the country’s shakiest U.S. state, California, Earthquake Machine is a fitting title. Played loud enough, with the bottom-end boosted sufficiently, the band’s music could conceivably register on the Richter scale.

More Allman Bros. than Anthrax, a musical ‘high’light would have to be the shimmering guitar hooks that open the mesmerizing “Drowning.” The treat of the record, however, is the unnamed final track dubbed “Noise Complaint,” for lack of a better title, in which the boys are chastised by a New York City peace office for disturbing said peace. Before departing, the office declares “And it smells in here also … that distinctive smell!” A chorus of giggles ensues after the door slams, and the laughter escalates when one of the bandmates reveals he has captured the entire incident on tape.