Is it simply a genre? Is it bands on drugs making music that only appeals to atypical stoners with the thought capacity of Beavis and Butthead? Is it the next grunge, grunge reincarnated or a cheap facsimile of grunge? Or is it just a new buzzword created by the media to repackage and recapitalize on the underground rock scene? The answer to this question is truly elusive and you�ll rarely find two people with an identical interpretation. One thing is certain though, without a glimmer of doubt; Stoner Rock absolutely, positively can NOT be catagorized by any of the aforementioned descriptions!
In this feature article I will delve into the Stoner Rock phenomenon in an effort to shed some light on this enigmatic, amazing and powerful music. This article is intended for the veterans of the scene as well as the uninitiated newbie. It is not an attempt to classify the bands or pigeonhole them. Consider it an attempt to disassociate Stoner Rock from its undeserved status as a one dimentional genre. Also, I will do my best to write this article from the general viewpoint held by the StonerRock.com Community, the bands and the fans instead of hammering my own personal opinions into you.
There are three terms that I use interminglingly to describe Stoner Rock within different contexts:
VIBE
This is my favourite word for explaining "that special something" that sets a Stoner Rock band apart from other rock bands and genres. The majority of Stoner Rock bands have a distinct passion for creativity, musical evolution and diversity. This passion translates smoothly in the way a band writes their songs and plays them live. Each band has their own individual style, sound and attitude. It�s the vibe of originality and personalized artistic expression that sets the Stoner Rock bands way above the contrived, stale and sterile vibe of their Corporate Rock/Grunge-Wannabe contemporaries.
When I hear a new Stoner Rock band or see them live I get goosebumps, my heart pounds harder and faster, I get a shortness of breath and this ominous feeling of awe. It doesn�t have to be crushingly heavy, overpoweringly fuzzy or mind bendingly psychedelic to provoke this change in my body chemistry. It�s just the vibe. The vibe of a passionate and creative rock band doing something new, pushing the envelope and honestly caring about the music they make. It�s this vibe that makes it easy for a fan to decide whether a band is Stoner Rock or not. If someone tells me about a new Stoner Rock band, I don�t know what exactly to expect, but I do know that I�ll be in for a treat in one form or another. Unlike other genres where most bands assimilate completely and all sound pretty much the same.
International Scene / Community
Stoner Rock as "a scene", or as I prefer to call it, "a community", is truly international and its steadily increasing popularity is due almost entirely to the Internet (second only to the music itself, of course!). In the past, music scenes mostly originated from one city or country. The most obvious example of this is Seattle�s "Grunge" scene in the late 80�s and early 90�s. But with Stoner Rock, thanks mostly to the Internet and MP3 swapping, the bands originate from all over the world. There are many bands from the USA, Canada, Australia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. But there are also bands from everywhere, including Argentina, Iceland, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Chile, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Germany and many more. Usually a Stoner Rock band gains international recognition and a strong international fan base before they can even get a reasonable turn out to their local gigs!
The fans of Stoner Rock are spread out even farther across the globe and most don�t have a local Stoner Rock scene at all. Myself, I�m lucky to see 3 or 4 Stoner Rock bands come through my town in a year! A lot of people see less or none! But that doesn�t stop us from loving the music, supporting the bands and participating in the scene/community via Internet newsgroups, message boards, websites and email groups. The Internet is truly a benefit to the scene, to the bands and to the diversity of the music itself. I would go so far as to say that Stoner Rock is the first music community to take full advantage of the power of the Internet to globalize a scene. Which is testament to the bands� ability to forge forward and adapt without compromising their roots or their creative integrity.
Umbrella Genre
I hate to refer to Stoner Rock as a genre because that has a tendency to classify a band in to a particular and expected sound. Essentially typecasting them for life! When you consider that Queens of the Stone Age and eARTHLINGS are referred to as Stoner Rock and then High on Fire and Eyehategod are also referred to as Stoner Rock it�s pretty obvious that these bands aren�t being stifled by their inclusion in a "genre".
I think it is fair to consider Stoner Rock to be an "umbrella genre" (for lack of a better term) when you consider the dozens of sub-genre monikers like Sludge Rock, Doom, Desert Rock, Fuzz Rock, Riff Rock, Heavy Groove, Grunge, Sludge Core, Cosmic Doom, Stoner Punk, Psychedelic Rock etc etc. Stoner Rock is usually accepted as encompassing all of these sub-genres and many more, in the same way that Heavy Metal can describe dozens of different styles of metal music. There are also lots of fans and bands that prefer to consider Stoner Rock and Heavy Metal as having the same definition and the same list of sub-genres. As in "Stoner Rock is just another word for Heavy Metal". Other fans strictly separate Stoner Rock, Doom and Heavy Metal into three different catagories. |
The best aspects of Stoner Rock bands are their refusal to conform to the status-pop-culture-quo, their never ending quest for originality and the fact that they never attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator like all media seems to do nowadays. Sex, sex, sex, big butts hanging out of short shorts and 15 year olds with plastic tits dancing in bikinis and lip syncing to shitty songs that they didn�t even write themselves. Stoner Rock bands write music with emotional power and intellectual depth and the bands don�t give a fuck if it�s popular or not. And that�s what makes the Stoner Rock "vibe" so attractive to all of us music fans who are smart enough to see through the thin layer of plastic that covers the pure shit that is popular music.
In closing I would just like to say: FUCK CORPORATE ROCK, FUCK MTV, FUCK MUCHMUSIC, FUCK CORPORATE RADIO, FUCK POP MUSIC CULTURE IN GENERAL AND BEWARE OF PERPETRATORS!! That is all.. Stay tuned for Part 2 of "What is Stoner Rock" where I�ll discuss the past, present and future of the scene. |
