Hermano

Only A Suggestion (Tee Pee)
by Brian Varney

Yet another entry in the burgeoning John Garcia subgenre (three bands since Kyuss and counting!), Hermano, which features guitarists Mike Callahan (Disengage) and David Angstrom (Supafuzz) and a rhythm section of Dandy Brown (Orquesta del Desierto) and Steve Earle (drummer on the good Afghan Whigs records and no relation to the country dude), will come as no surprise to those who’ve heard Garcia’s other post-Kyuss projects, Slo Burn and Unida. Guitars are fuzzed-out yet soaringly melodic (someone’s spent quite a bit of time in the Thin Lizzy section) and the rhythms are poundingly heavy and yet not lacking in side-to-side groove-laden-ness, the kinda thing where Garcia could yell “Make it funky!” and not get laughed outta the building. No one’s gonna mistake this for The JBs, but considering the band’s stoner peers, this is pretty darn sexy.

Once rumored to be coming out on Man’s Ruin, this thing has been talked about a great deal more than it’s been heard (More a Legend Than a Band would’ve been a good title if it hadn’t already been nabbed). Cassette copies of these eight songs have been circulating among hardcore Kyuss freaks since it was recorded two or three years ago, so a large part of the potential audience has already heard this. Of course, my copy sounds like it was copied from a worn cassette left in a hot car all summer, so it’s nice to hear this in its fully mastered glory. I’d hoped there would be more than the eight songs, twenty-eight minutes that were on the copy slipped to me a year or so ago by a little birdie, but alas, no.

Musically, though, there isn’t much more that can be said about this. It sounds pretty much exactly like you’d expect. If you liked Slo Burn and Unida, you’ll probably like this. If not, you probably won’t. Does it re-invent the wheel? Nope. Does it rock? Hell yep. Nice “Sunshine of Your Love” lift on track eight, too.
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