Black Nasa

Deuce (MeteorCity)
by Craig Regala

Black Nasa: The guys who’ve been around. Their resumes include Godspeed, Atomic Bitchwax, the Scene Killer project, Gallery of Mites… Y’know, a buncha rock bands (no hyphens necessary) that kick the can between ’70s rocker stuff (AC/DC, Thin Lizzy), proto metal (MC5, Grand Funk, Sir Lord Baltimore, Bang), grunge, and greasy Southern ID’d stuff. Considering it’s warmth and label affiliation, it’ll get chucked in the “stoner” bin. At times (9.26.04 @ 8:46, sitting in a car wash), parts of it strike me as an East Coast take on the guitar rock that made Built To Spill and Caustic Resin work. Much of it’s, well, kinda laidback and a bit spacey, and good for it.

Totally pro-level stuff with great songs, nice slide guitar/keyboard/harmonica interaction that your uncle, who hasn’t bought a record since Kenny Wayne Shepherd (and is always bitching about finding a new needle for the turntable so he can pull out the Robin Trower recs) would dig. I dropped their tune “Boozer” between Anthax’s “Cadillac Rock Box” and Aerosmith’s “Mama Kin.” Peers would include Monster Magnet, Black Label Society, Puddy, All Night, and Nebula. My one complaint: It’s too short, at a touch over a half hour. And I’d like a couple more up-tempo numbers, but hey, they didn’t ask. It’s always a good sign when you want more, not less.
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