Cargo Records

Got Live if You Want It

A couple of seconds into the first track, and I abruptly came to the conclusion that James Marshall Hendrix (more commonly known as Jimi) somehow miraculously resurrected himself and is now effortlessly wailing his way through an intricate array of aural wah-wah acrobatics with this acid-rock outfit called Dead Meadow. The guitars are heavy, atmospheric, and eerily of another world.

The bass and drums add a trance-like aura of darkness and doom to the mix, and it all sounds uncannily like an apocalyptic run-through of Robin Trower's "Bridge Of Sighs" drenched in LSD and stereophonic hallucinations. The instrumentation is downright mesmerizing, the vocals are slurred, echo-laden, and full of nasal pout. But I'm enchanted enough by the interplanetary guitar leads to highly recommend these lysergic-shrouded sounds to mind-numbed stoners everywhere. - Roger Moser Jr