The term "desert rock" came in to being thanks to bands like Kyuss, Unida and Yawning Man playing, impromptu gigs, called "generator parties", out in the surrounding deserts of their Palm Desert home base in the late 80's, since then the desert rock sound, a sort of hybrid of hard rock, punk, psych and Latin influences has spread wide and far and is now being played by bands who's proximity to anything even resembling a desert is probably a sand pit in their local children's playground.
Munich, Germany is not exactly a vast wilderness populated by tall spiny cactus and sun bleached bones but four guys from that Bavarian capital, performing under the extremely apt title of Dune Pilot, sure know their way around a dusty desert groove, as can be witnessed on their latest release "Lucy"
The desert can be a cold and desolate place in its night time period yet deadly hot, humid and unforgiving during the day and although Dune Pilot's closest encounter with such a landscape has probably been via the pages of a copy of the National Geographic, left lying open in the waiting room of a doctor's surgery, the band have somehow managed to reflect those extremes in their raucous sandy grooves. Those hot and humid elements come through perfectly on songs like the barnstormin' opener "Loaded", the raucous, romping desert rocker "Postman", and the Sasquatch-esque "Speak Up" but the band are just as adept at delivering desolate and doomic, as can be witnessed on their more sedately paced tunes, such as the slowly building "Griper" and the schizophrenic closer "Feed Your Conscience", songs that balance the albums more aggressive moments with those of a more restrained and reflective vibe and give the albums overall impact a more rounded and immediate dynamic..
Superbly executed, with strong performances in both the vocal and instrumental departments, "Lucy" is an album that proves you don't have to live in a desert to be able to play "desert" you just need a little imagination and bucketful of groove.
Check it out ….
© 2018 Frazer Jones
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