Beaver

Lodge (Man’s Ruin)
by Brian Varney

Well, here you have another one of them damn European bands. I guess there’ll be no cover of “We’re An American Band” by one of these new stoner/heavy bands any time soon ’cause it seems like none of them are actually American. Beaver hail from Amsterdam, and like seemingly every other European stoner/heavy band in existence, they sound as if they were weaned on Kyuss albums and weed. If you should ever walk in on a conversation about this band, you’ll probably hear words like “hypnotic” and “space,” and “lysergic” as well before you dash away in search of your own copy. There are so many bands hanging out in this same general area that one would think this sort of thing would get tiresome, but oddly enough, it never quite does. My appreciation for the rock might be narrow, but it’s quite deep at the same time. Lodge has a lot of the spacey side of Kyuss in it, but not as much as, say, the new Natas. The guitars sound like they’re looking for a cactus to bounce off of, but the band is also capable of stomping on the effects pedals and beating a little ass when they feel like it (and they feel like it often, believe me). Put these guys on a stage with Dozer or Nebula and I’ll never get up off the floor – I’ll be too dumb.
(610 22nd St. #302 San Francisco, CA 94107)