Slomosa – Tundra Rock
Slomosa are a quartet hailing from Bergen, Norway. Their sound is a mix of stoner rock and grunge with catchy melodies. The band formed in 2017 but solidified their lineup in 2020 and released their debut Self Titled album, that same year. The record was well received, despite being released during the pandemic. The band members consist of: Benjamin Berdous on guitar and vocals, Marie Moe on bass and vocals, Tor Erik Bye on guitar, and Jard Hole on the drums. Slomosa just released their second album, Tundra Rock on Stickman Records, on September 13th 2024. The album consists of 9 tracks and is 38 minutes long.
The opening track “Afghansk Rev” starts the recording with clean and bluesy guitars that expand into a nice fuzz heavy riff. The three plus minute song shifts back to clean and heavy again and is essentially an instrumental with a slow and heavy groove that gets you ready for the energetic music ahead. “Rice”, being the first song I heard on Tundra Rock, kicks right in with a distorted grunge groove and just the right amount of fuzz and melody. Slomosa seamlessly shift back from one to the other. The song structures cross genres of stoner to grunge with a deliberate blend of both. “Cabin Fever” is another good example of that. The vocals remind me of Suplecs at times and maybe Weezer. I can even hear a little Talking Heads vibe to their sound. “Cabin Fever” is the band’s first single and has a stomp box grove to the song. It’s a cool and catchy number and a great choice to introduce us to the rest of Tundra Rock. “Red Thundra” starts mellow with strumming bass and clean guitars with a simple drum beat. Marie Moe sings the first couple of lines in her beautiful voice. Then it gets a little heavier with distortion added and Benjamin Berdous takes over on the vocals. The tune stays in this pace and structure throughout.
The fifth track “Good Mourning” is a mellow piano intro that proceeds into the next song. “Battling Guns” is a good and solid song with a catchy and radio friendly sound to it. The rhythm reminds me of Queens Of The Stone Age a bit with good slabs of fuzz mixed within. “Monomann” begins with bass and drums and then cranks in with the fuzz. The mid pace of the song has a rocking Kyuss and Truckfighters feel to it, which is really cool. “Mj” is another rocking tune with a grunge sound. Slomosa has a knack for this groove laden riffing with rock solid drumming as well. They never get too elaborate with their song structuring and keep them all within the familiar wheel house, which really works out well. The final song on Tundra Rock is called “Dune”. It’s probably the most creative tune of the bunch with the cool desert jamming beginning that builds up from there. They incorporate some vocal seance singing while keeping a solid rhythm going. It’s a very good song in its own right and a wonderful closer for this excellent album.
Slomosa are a band on the rise and one to watch out for. They have a perfect formula of rock that is equal parts stoner fuzz, blended with hooks and melody. Tundra Rock has no filler tracks on it and really elevates the sound from where their debut began. I can see this album being in the top echelon of 2024 releases.
https://slomosa1.bandcamp.com/album/tundra-rock
