Album Reviews

Review – Bag of Hammers by The Linus Pauling Quartet

The Linus Pauling Quartet are back and about to release their 8th album since 1994, Bag of Hammers. Who is The Linus Pauling Quartet? That was my reaction when the email first came through. As it turns out, the band has been around for awhile now. Since 1994 as I stated before. I’m not sure how they went under my radar for this long but I’m sure glad they are on it now.

The opens with the heavy and hard hitting song “Crom” (video and FREE download below). The song is thick and juicy with riffs and a damn catchy chorus that will get stuck in your head for days. Next up is “She Did Not Know.” While heavy on the riffs, the song plays out a bit mellower and adds a bit of psych to it. Then we get to “Victory Gin” This one is more garage rock, shoegaze and heavy psych than a heavy rock song. “Star Chimp” heavies it up more. This is heavy psych done right.”Rust” is next. This song is much different than the rest. It’s not only a heavy psych song, it’s more spacy at times. It also features female vocals. There’s a certain vibe to this song that is just enhanced by the female vocals. I’m

not sure what it is, you’ll have to hear this one for yourself. After that little departure from the album, “Saving Throw” is next. This song, to my ears, seem to channel mid 70′s Led Zeppelin. The drumming would make Jon Bonham proud. “Homonculus” is another heavy psych song. We bring the album to an end with a great song, “Stonebringer.” This one is the longest track at just under 9 minutes. It mixes heavy psych with some heavy guitar riffs. Halfway through the song slows slightly and is tripped out and almost a jam like section. This song signals some of the best the 70′s had to offer.

I’ll have to say that I am fairly impressed with this album. They have a somewhat common sound to fellow Texans Wo Fat but they don’t sound like Wo Fat at all. As I said before, I’m not sure how they escaped under my radar for so long. If this is their 8th album and it’s this good, I’d love to hear the first 7. Something tells me I’ll be looking around and gathering as much as I can afford to buy. Bag of Hammers is one you’re going to want to check out as soon as it’s released.

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