Revitalizing Music With A BETTER DYSTOPIA

90‘s sludge rockers Monster Magnet have been releasing groovy, beat-driven, sonic-trippin music for decades. Driven by Dave Wyndorf’s iconic and cutting vocals, a true musical experience can be expected. No two songs are the same, especially those released recently when Wyndorf reaches deep into his roots. 2021’s A Better Dystopia is a collection of ”underground” covers Dave cites as being inspiring, memorable and uplifting at a time when music was society’s only stability. The late 60’s… before punk, before sub rock or whatever labels could be invented. 

This music is raw, and it screams. Magnet did pure justice by bringing charisma to the surface, putting heart and care into covers at a real time when the industry is missing ingenuity. All of this on top of selecting some awesome songs which not many individuals have heard about. 

This is Monster Magnet’s 11th studio album, recorded in the past year at home when tours were canceled due to the virus. I love their albums, and I am so happy to say this one ended up falling in my lap. For sure, I had expectations and halfway through they lived up to it. At first I heard hints of Sabbath and Motorhead, then later I found out this was a covers album. Either way, it was straight badass… and I was hooked. For what I knew, this could have been original Monster Magnet. The flowery solos and different tones stood out to me… but it was all so good, I was like… dang. They did it again. That’s how real and true this sounds to their roots, who they are, and how much they adapted and absorbed this music into their persons. 

I love it when an artist can draw from inspirations, when it in the end becomes a part of them and a part of life. I think at a core that is what good music does to you and all of that comes through here. This album is so influential, because it brings back pure emotion and a type of rawness that I surely missed. Now when music is so perfected… I just miss actually feeling like someone is there, singing their heart out and whamming the strings and flying into a solo. You can hear, practically see in color, all of this here. They are in the music, there is no doubt about that. 

The first song I heard that stood out to me was ‘Be Forewarned’. It opens with a melodic guitar, and “as I awake in the darkness, and I look around. There is no sound. It’s so tranquil, it’s so calm like you. Now I hear a noise. Is there any way out of this nightmare?” … Then the guitar picks up… “I’m alone now… And you’re laughin’ at me…. So if you’re leaving, you better let me know…”. The whole intro tells a story, and the melody frames it in a way where you listen. The song is just as melodic and beat-driven when it picks up, as when it slows down. This is where I say groovy. It’s such a colorful song and completely soulified. There’s a bass solo, there’s guitars, drums, it all clicks together… It’s just a badass rock song. 

‘When the Wolf Sits’ picks up a little harder, more upbeat and almost with a strat twang. “It’s the time of night… what you need… we need each other… Before we slip into another dawn, into another morning, just like the day and the day before. In fact I don’t know what I’m a looking for”, then some A+ ‘right’ screams. You just go with it heartedly, if you know it.  ‘When did you die? When a smile on your face makes you wanna cry? A time for looking back, into wonder why’s?’ That time of night. This is one of the best guitar solos on the record, almost Corrosion of Conformity- esque, meets full- throttle, creamy solo goodness. The breakdown at the end is just as splendid.

‘Death’. Sitar opening, and ooooo, ooo, ooo, oo’s. This song is just a work of art. “High windows inside me look down on your face. Changing white fingers for man in the sand. Burning bright spears that you hold in your hand. Pray children you spawn they just won’t understand.” You can feel the torment and emotion with every note, every verse, chorus, bridge. This song is a story, and it is a 50/50 mix of music and melodic, calm speaking. I’ve just never heard anything like it before. 

‘Situation’ opens with an adventurous feeling, down from the mountain, with a harmonica. Very upbeat mood with prominent bass. Exquisite vocals, so pronounced, so out there. Sabbath-like solos. On par with Garage Days, this has to be one of the best covers albums in decades. 

‘Learning to Die’, any song opening with those ghost note harmonics you can’t go wrong. It starts out so energetic, and moves to selectively controlled… “help me find a place inside this foreign land”. Shredding solos. The little break in Wyndorf’s voice. So much passion. 

I just wanna scream, like I love this record. I just throw this on and the world dissolves away.  It has that old-school feel. Before music became so perfected and controlled and dampened and restrained. Yeah a bit of editing and refinement in recording is needed just for quality purposes, but it comes to a point where you lose a bit of artistic flair in that process, and how things really feel, say, when you see a show. Music isn’t meant to be perfect, and that’s ok. 

This album surpassed my expectations. The first few songs didn’t really get me, but like digging for a pot of gold the last 75 percent did everything for me. It is such a diverse album, but yet everything is cohesive. It’s new to my ears, but has all the instruments I enjoy listening to. 

If you’ve stuck with me this far, I highly suggest reading Dave’s interview with SPIN Magazine. Not a lot of people can say it like him, sing it like him, and do this kind of justice for a project. Thanks Monster Magnet, for bringing inspiration to the surface and being a fighter for genuine, emotive music. At a time when there is no emotion behind a screen, transmitted through the waves. There is artistic performance, blasting the speakers, screaming the words. An album like this is what the world needs. Blasting the speakers nationwide, screaming. 

Rating: 7.5 / 10, for being so surprising, thought-provoking, and mystical.  

Bonus: MM originals;