Chron Goblin (Self Titled E.P)

I have biases! Just thought I’d forewarn you. I’m friends with Chron Goblin. Likely, you are too. It’s almost certain you’ve seen them play at a house party you’ve been at, or you know one of the band members and go way back together. Having said that, even if I weren’t friends with Darty, Brett, Josh, and Richard it wouldn’t be hard to get stoked on this CD. It’s got five tracks and no need for filler. Sure, it’s stoner rock BUT it’s not boring or repetitive to an endless k-hole-inducing extent. Before sitting down to listen hard I engaged in gobbling some goblin-goobers (secret code). Then I did something or other. Then I wandered around a bit. Then I remembered the CD. It felt like a very good discovery at the time.

Some things were written down while listening to the CD. Most won’t be transcribed here as I’m not going to waste your time with gibberish about cats. I will comment that the recording quality is exceptionally good for a local band and the CD artwork cracks me up. It’s a re-imagined cartoon cribbed from the movie Reefer Madness. I’m sure you can figure out why.

Track one, Mirrors, starts off heavy and strong. Good groove to it, man, it’s my favourite. Walk With Me, the second track is based around a slower, chunky Sabbath-esque riff and noodles around from there with some tempo intensification and a couple solos. Track four (Change your Hair) gets down to the sludgy and weighty like fifty-seven pounds of beef placed directly on top of your head. I don’t know what that comparison means but I wrote it down on a scrap of paper and evidently found it amusing at the time. Self-indulgent crap aside, I will not change my hair. Flatfooted Hypocrite, the final track is my second favourite track on the album, it’s pretty nifty. Brett’s drums fully complement Darty’s guitar parts and Josh’s vocals stand at the top of a mighty mountain of music. I can’t really comment on Richard’s bass playing on the album as he either has to follow Darty’s guitar or play a straight-ahead rhythm line for the songs to work. I recall that he had just joined the band when the album was being recorded so he probably didn’t have time to really step out on his own and go Victor-Wooten-buck-wild all over the place. He’s a nice person in a guitar-driven band though, so don’t hold anything against him.

In fact, the whole band is worth the price of admission to one of their shows even if they don’t play a single note! If you do catch them live, watch Brett play drums. It’ll make you happy. He stole Nicko McBrain’s ever-present grin. I can’t imagine for the life of me what makes them all grin like that, squinting their beady little eyes against an unseen glare.

- Glen Murdock