Brant Bjork

Jalamanta (Man’s Ruin)
by Brian Varney

At first listen, I thought this was some sort of soundtrack. Turns out I was wrong, but I was onto something. The music on Jalamanta, like most soundtrack music, doesn’t seem capable of standing on its own merit, but instead seems as if it were created with the sole purpose of enhancing some other thing. This is pretty low-key stuff, kinda like the place where soul and psychedelia would meet if they ever decided to. It comes as quite a shock when you consider Brant Bjork‘s rock credentials (he has played drums for both Kyuss and Fu Manchu). The rhythms proceed in a sort of drowsy crawl and the guitars and stuff just sorta chatter without really saying anything. There aren’t really any memorable riffs, and the majority of the album is instrumental, so it all seems very incidental. There are some nice moody parts now and then, but it seems to have very little you can really chew on. This would probably be a good accompaniment for late-night driving, pot smoking, or sex, but I can’t envision sitting and LISTENING to it, y’know? If you’re looking for background music for said recreational activities, you might wanna give this a listen. Me, I’m off to listen to the new Fu Manchu again.
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