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Reviving that Palm Desert Sound.

Belated Happy New Year Fuzzers! I tend to find January a bit of a downer after all the Christmas and New Year festivities, but I have discovered the perfect remedy for the winter blues with this debut album from Stoner Rock band Desert Colossus.

The band hail from Zaanstad in the Netherlands and consist of Frank Zoomer (Vocals/Guitar), Leon van Wijk (Guitar), Tom Collé (Bass) and Frank Fey (Drums).

How is the sound?

I decided I was going to love this record within the first ten seconds of the opening track ‘Golfshoes’, the high-tempo drums and slamming bass set the tone for the opening half of the album with a fuzzy mixture of Desert Rock played at Punk Rock pace. ‘What!?’ has a definite Queens Of The Stone Age influence and is followed by my favourite track on the album ‘Pariah’, where once again the bass is very much to the fore. Zoomer’s hushed lyrics flow over the funky bass-line like a gentle desert breeze before the guitars whip up a sandstorm for the raucous chorus.

‘Fat Chicks‘ keeps this rock party going strong before a change of tempo kicks in with the more bluesy ‘Surrender To The Void’, allowing us all to catch our breath whilst nodding along to the hypnotic riffage. The respite is brief though as Desert Colossus cranks up the pace again to finish the song with a wonderful blend of guitar sounds over a thunderous drum and bass groove.

It is back into fifth gear as we speed along the desert highway with ‘Burn Your Friends’ and ‘Desert Colossus’, flipping the bird to the troubles we’ve left behind as we head towards the Stoner Rock nirvana of ‘The End Is Nigh‘.

This album sums up everything that is great about discovering new bands. The sound is real and not overproduced and you also get the impression Desert Colossus had a blast making this record. I sure as hell enjoy listening to it.

Why is this album worth listening?

High-tempo feel-good rock

Killer bass grooves

In what situation you should listen to this album?

Organize a house party. Invite more people than can comfortably fit in the main room of the house. Gather everyone together in said room. Put this album on at full volume. Go ballistic and be prepared to have to clean beer off the ceiling in the morning!

Something particular to note?

Name your price on Bandcamp. In my opinion easily the best place to discover new bands and support the artists.