Primitive Ring – Self Titled
Primitive Ring is a new hard rock trio from Los Angeles, California. They consist of Charles Moothart on guitar and vocals, Bert Hoover on bass and vocals, and Jon Modaff on drums, percussion, and mellotron. All three members are in other bands: Hooveriii, Groop, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Fuzz, and GØGGS. Collectively, their sound has a proto-metal/ heavy psychedelic retro-rocking groove. They have released several singles starting in early 2025 and just recently released their debut full length Self Titled album on May 15th 2026. It came out on In The Red and contains eleven tracks at forty two minutes long.
Primitive Ring sounds like a band that have been playing together for a long time. They have a sense of immediacy in their seventies influenced hard rocking sound with a flow and tightness that connects the band together. The musicianship is top notch and right from the opener “Fire And Brimstone”, Primal Ring is a force to be reckoned with. Bombastic drumming and scorching rhythms and leads fire along nicely with the heavy psych vocals. “The Last Goldmine” is a boogie rocking delight that has a gritty resonance of garage punk revamped with vintage rock. Full on groove with layered vocals, Primitive Ring sounds huge on the catchy “Lies From The Other Side”. The explosion of classic rock blended with acid punk fused with psychedelic blues, gives a brief description of Primitive Ring.
“Paid” has some smooth and swanky tones adjoined with the dazzling drumming. The music really jams into astounding passages of flowing rhythms and hyper-melodies that are connected with a percussive prowess. The song floats right into “Sold As A Lie” with a drum fill and fuzzed-out rhythms commencing. I do hear an old Nebula vibe to their music which is a huge plus in my eyes. Primitive Ring hammers in the tribal drumming to conclude the track and then gradually fades into the rocking “Heads Will Roll “. A grandiose and catchy tune that blazes into the excellent “Call Me What You Please”.
The next track entitled “Griefsong” has a mellow start that livens up into a bouncy and rocking number. Primitive Ring really fills in a lot of space with just guitar, bass, and drums but they also utilize Rhodes/ organ and even violin and cello on certain parts. The atmospheric tones are particularly interesting on “The Callous Man”, the longest track on the record. The band really lets loose and jams out hard on this fantastic track. “Our Oblivion” dials everything way down with beautiful acoustic guitars and excellent clean vocals. This mellow psychedelic masterpiece opens another layer for this amazing band, further enhancing their elaborate sound into other divine musical dimensions. The song splashes right into the finale called “Golden”. The eleventh and final score on this magnificent debut album, “Golden” fuzzes up a raw and rocking concoction of classic rock and punk grit. However, the band cleverly adds in piano and violin at the end of the song and fades things out in an orchestrated fashion.
I am really enjoying this debut release from Primitive Ring. There’s no way that I could ever imagine this being a new band with the advanced sound that they produce. These are seasoned veterans coming together and making such authentic and electrifying hard rock music that will excite a lot of new listeners. I am really digging this band who create such an introspective and throwback sound that resonates with me on a lot of levels.
https://primitivering.bandcamp.com/music
