Sleep

I’m trying to avoid simply recounting concerts or bands, but in this case I can’t resist.  Although I’ve referred to stoner rock bands countless times already, I haven’t blogged about Sleep in particular, and they are a particularly important band in that genre.

Current lineup:  Matt Pike (guitar), Al Cisneros (bass/vocals), Jason Roeder (drums).   Cisneros was also in a band called OM, which is heavy dronelike s**t.  Five albums: Variations on a Theme, Conference of the Birds, Pilgrimage, God is Good, and Adviatic Songs.  The singing sounds like it’s in Byzantine or some foreign language.  It reminds me of SunnO))).  To make matters even more stonerish, Cisneros was also in a one-off band called Shrinebuilder, somewhat of a stoner rock supergroup with only one (awesome) self-titled album, featuring Dale Crover on drums (the Melvins), Scott Kelly (Neurosis) on bass, and the ever-popular Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Saint Vitus & the Obsessed, among others) on guitar and vocals.  Note that current Sleep drummer, Jason Roeder, was with Neurosis, making two members of that band Al Cisneros has worked with. 

Discography:  Volume 1, Holy Mountain, Jerusalem/Dopesmoker, The Sciences.  With the exception of J/D (see below) these four albums have multiple songs with lyrics.

Along with Kyuss, Sleep can be considered one of the premiere stoner rock bands.  They began around 1991 and continued to 1998, at which point they broke up when the record label refused to release their album, Jerusalem, also known as Dopesmoker, a continuous 52 minute song (later released on a different label).  While most of their songs can be enjoyed without herbal enhancement, the latter album almost requires it to be listenable, and I imagine the record company weren’t 4:20 friendly enough to make that work.   

Doom with a Groove.  As noted earlier, a frequent complaint of stoner rock is that too much of it sounds the same, mostly bands incessantly copying not only Black Sabbath but also each other.  A subset of stoner rock is doom, which seems to take Black Sabbath, particularly “Into the Void”, the last song on Master of Reality and tuned down to C#, and make it even slower, heavier and doomier.  Electric Wizard really come to mind on this, but SunnO))) and Sleep do this as well.  And after awhile that really gets dull and tiresome.  Are you trying to lull everyone to sleep?  [WARNING:  DO NOT USE INDICA].  So the challenge with this is keeping it lively when you’re tuned down low – thus the GROOVE.  I could hear a definite groove with Pike & the boys that night, and certainly on The Sciences.  I did not fall asleep during this show. 

Pike tends to play Les Pauls through multiple Orange amps – I counted three heads and six 4x12” cabinets – and heavily detuned.  He doesn’t wear a shirt.  Cisneros handles the vocals and Rickenbacker bass, through no less than 4 full stacks of Sunn amps.  The music drones but (as noted) has a definite groove which breaks up what might otherwise be monotonous and dull.  Both shows (see below) were highly enjoyable. 

In 2000, Pike formed High On Fire, more of a thrash metal band, and continued with that for awhile, putting out 8 albums between 2000 and now.  I actually saw them open for Opeth in Baltimore in 2008, but for some reason they didn’t impress me.  I tried listening to their stuff on Spotify and it went in one ear and out the other.  Like a fair amount of thrash metal, it does a poor job of distinguishing itself from angry white noise.  Fortunately Sleep are much different.

In 2009 Sleep reformed and began touring again.  Recently they released a new album of awesome s**t, called The Sciences.  [Technically it seems High on Fire is on hiatus and not disbanded.]  

Here is a particularly good (and of course, positive) review of the new album which addresses much of the circumstances surrounding its long-awaited arrival: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sleep-the-sciences/

Now I’ve seen them twice, both at the new 9:30 Club in DC.

2016 set list.     Dragonaut, Holy Mountain, Dopesmoker (excerpt), The Clarity, Sonic Titan, Aquarian, From Beyond, Cultivator/Improved Morris.

2018 setlist.       Marijuanaut’s Theme, Holy Mountain, The Clarity, Sonic Titan, Giza Butler, Leagues Beneath, The Botanist, Dragonaut, encore: Dopesmoker (excerpt).   Remarkably, the following night they played another show, a different setlist featuring most of Holy Mountain.   Hopefully Pike was using a new guitar cable. 

As you might imagine, this is a band not quite shy about declaring their love of marijuana consumption.  In addition to the names, and much bud-like imagery on the album covers and t-shirts, the concession stand at the recent show featured lighters, credit card-style grinders, and at a premium, metal grinders – i.e. MJ paraphernalia.  Other bands are doing the same these days, so it’s only a matter of time before band-emblazoned bongs, pipes, rolling papers, etc., become available.  Hell, Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg have proprietary weed strains, so as legalization spreads, perhaps we’ll see that from stoner rock bands as well – hell, concert venues would be well advised to double as legal dispensaries (dare we hope).  DC, where the concert took place, has legalized possession, but not sale, of MJ.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, enjoy SLEEP.  

Scott "Wino" Weinrich

A few months ago I attended a concert at the Ottobar in Baltimore, a small club in the north section of the city.  I was seated in the corner at a small table waiting for The Obsessed to go on.   At the table next to me, his back to me, was an eccentric stranger in long grey hair, arms bare in a vest and covered in strange and fascinating tattoos.  A few moments later I saw him standing up, and facing in my direction:  it was Scott “Wino” Weinrich himself.  Very cool.  I did not, however, end up talking to him, but I did reach a close point to the stage to enjoy his band’s set.

He’s actually from Rockville, Maryland, though almost ten years older than me.  He has a raspy, distinctive voice and an intimidating demeanor, though we’ve seen him joke and smile occasionally.

Wino could be considered the Lemmy of the Stoner rock scene, although Lemmy is only associated with Hawkwind and Motorhead.  Like Lemmy he’s had an impressive history of illicit drug use, much of which ends up in the song lyrics.  The three major bands Wino is most closely associated with are Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, and Spirit Caravan. 

Solo material.  One track on Probot (Dave Grohl), Live at Roadburn, Heavy Kingdom, Labour of Love, Songs of Towne Van Zandt, Punctuated Equilibrium, Adrift, and Freedom Conspiracy

The Obsessed.  Self-titled, The Church Within, Lunar Womb, and Sacred

Saint Vitus.  Born Too Late, Mournful Cries, V, Lillie: F-65 [Saint Vitus is mainly guitarist Dave Chandler, and their other main vocalist is Scott Reagers]

Hidden Hand.  Mother Teacher Destroyer; Divine Propaganda; Resurrection of Whisky Foote

But wait!  There’s more!  He’s also got the following items to talk about:  + Premonition 13, Shrinebuilder, and Place of Skulls With Vision.

As you can see, it’s a major load of work, of which I’m familiar with Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, and Saint Vitus.  All of it sounds pretty much the same:  doomy, raspy, Sabbath oriented with frequent drug references.    

Tattoos

I’m suffering writer’s block this particular weekend, so I’ll keep it short and brief on a fairly minor topic: tattoos.

These days it seems that almost everyone has a tattoo.  Moreover, the abundance of “sleeve” or all over deals is even more prevalent than it used to be.  It’s reached the point where “distinguishing feature” would be “NO tattoos” at all, though I confess I do know lots of people with none, however it’s 50/50 instead of 90%. 

Notables.   Bon Scott (AC/DC) had several on his arms, including a parakeet.  Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) has Eddie.  Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath) has that strange oriental dragon coming down his chest, plus the OZZY he did on his fingers when he was in jail.   Scott “Wino” Weinrich (St. Vitus, The Obsessed) has a fairly eclectic array that is probably the most interesting, but as of this moment I can’t recall the individual tattoos.

My own.   I’m weird: I have ONE tattoo.  My dad died suddenly in December 2004, which led me to “bucket list” this abruptly.   Since I was big into Firebirds at the time (still am, just lack the $$ to buy all the ones I want or renovate the two I have) I got the ’73-77 Screaming Chicken on my upper right arm, in dark blue and light blue.  Actually, I also like the '67-69 Indian type design, but the Trans Am version is cooler.

That was it.  One and done.  It’s only visible if I’m topless or wearing a tank top; a short sleeve shirt obscures it completely. 

They talk about “don’t get a tattoo” if you’re in certain lines of business.  I’m a lawyer:  I don’t go to court topless or wearing tank tops.  Wearing a suit and tie in court, the only exposed parts of my body are my hands, neck, and face, none of which areas are prime locations for tattoos.   And a Firebird is hardly an offensive symbol, except maybe to Judge Mustang. 

Does it hurt?  Nominally it’s a needle stitching your skin with ink, but although it’s not a pleasant sensation, I can’t call it painful either.  The sheer numbers of people with tattoos all over their bodies should be a clue that the procedure doesn’t hurt as much as you think it would – otherwise no one would have tattoos. 

Removal.  The prevalence of tattoos has spawned a related industry: tattoo removal.   Not an issue in my case.

Cool?  Back when only sailors and criminals had them, I suppose it might have been.  Now they’re so ubiquitous it’s hard to notice unless the design is particularly special.  Swastikas, of course, stand out immediately (see “American History X”, and Charles Manson).    Please, use your best judgment - to the extent you have any.