Geezer & Isaak – Interstellar Cosmic Blues & The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published August 18, 2024 · Updated September 3, 2024

Here is a split release of two bands on Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The album was released on May 17th, 2024 and features Kingston, New York power trio Geezer and Genoa, Italy’s quartet Isaak. The record has seven songs total, the first four from Geezer and the remaining three from Isaak.

Geezer starts things off with “Acid Veins” which is a cool, grooving, and rocking number. It’s a catchy tune with a nice solid rhythm and good guitar leads. I first heard about this band a few years ago with their records Groovy released in 2020 and 2022’s Stoned Blues Machine. I was fortunate to see them perform at Desert Fest New York in 2022 in the smaller room. They sounded great and performed a tight set that night. The band consists of: Pat Harrington on guitar and vocals, Richie Touseull on bass, and drummer Steve Markova. The second track “Little Voices” meanders nicely along displaying a simplistic yet effective approach to Geezer’s song writing structure. Interstellar Cosmic Blues is the perfect description for their music. They have a bluesy and groove to all of their songs that gets your foot tapping along, as evident in the third cut “Mercury Rising.” However, it’s Geezer’s fourth song to close out their contribution on this split that really shines through, in my opinion. Titled “Oneirophrenia,” (which is a dream-like, hallucinatory state of consciousness that can cause a person to become confused about the difference between reality and dreams.) The music explores the cosmic and psychedelic territory in the last section of the song and expands on the band’s creativity. These four songs are some of my favorites from Geezer thus far.

“The Whale” starts off with feedback and crushing drums into a barrage of heavy riffage. This is my very first experience hearing Isaak and they have an unrelenting sound in this song. It reminds me of old Baroness or Keelhaul with its post hardcore attack. The band consists of: Giacomo Boeddu on vocals, Francesco Raimondi on guitars, Gabriele Carta on bass, and Davide Foccis on drums. The next song called “Crisis” is probably my favorite of the bunch. The guitar starts with some accents that go into a killer riff. The ride cymbals and drums have a metallic feel (like old Slayer or something) and the rhythm section keeps a good flow throughout. Boeddu’s singing reminds me of Glen Danzig and fits the music very well. Around the two and a half minute mark, the music breaks into a cool drum and acoustic part that leads into fuzzy riffing with aggressive vocal screaming. The flawless blending of different styles in this song are wonderful. The contrasts are fluid and work well together. Finally, the record closes out with “Flat Earth.” The music has a metal feel in the riffing but also rock elements built around it. The guitar leads are very good also. The bellowing vocals work especially well with this song and I’m definitely a new fan of Isaak. I have since explored their other material and have appreciated all of it, especially 2023’s Hey (review here). The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes are awesome! Overall, I really enjoy this split record and love the contrast of sounds between Geezer and Isaak.