Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Plainride Plainride (vinyl) Review by Gary Hill The sticker on this record declares it as "heavy. freaky. fuzzy." I'd consider that accurate. The mix of sounds here is tough to nail down, but overall they most often land in territory near to the sound of King's X. This is often bluesy, more often funky and always intriguing. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024 Volume 1 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Track by Track Review

Side A

Fire In The Sky Funk, fuzz-laden hard rock, soul and jazz all seem to merge on this monster of a tune. It's a great way to start things in style. This moves toward metal later along its run.

Hello, Operator Hard rock, funk and more merge here, too. While this isn't as fierce as the opener was, it's still a killer tune. I'm reminded a little of King's X on this beast.

You Wanna? This is just a weird interlude that's a little spooky. It's less than a minute long.

S.O.T.U. Much crazier and more metal based, this thing is fierce. I'm reminded just a little of GWAR for some reason. It is theatric and artsy. This gets a parental advisory. It also has a strange interlude built into the middle of it, too.

Wanderer This comes in stripped back with a restrained guitar and vocal line as the only game in town. It has a bluesy kind of vibe to it. This powers up eventually. This is another track that makes me think of King's X.

Siebengebirge A mellow, guitar instrumental piece ends the side in style.

Side B

Ritual More of a funky hard rocking jam is on the menu here. I'm reminded of what you might get if ZZ Top and King's X did music together. .

Shepherd Parts of this has psychedelia built into it. The track has some Led Zeppelin vibes early, but it shifts to more King's X like stuff further down the road. It's another powerhouse.

Hour Of The Mûmakil This thing is so cool. It has some typical King's X type stuff, but it also works out to an almost proggy, mellower jam mid-track. It's definitely another winner. There is also another prog-like movement later with some organ soloing over the top of it.

The Lilies Built around alternating mellower and more rocking sounds, this has plenty of blues rock built into it. It's another killer tune. I suppose King's X could be a reference here, but this is more mainstream classic rock inspired in a lot of ways.

Return

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2025 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com