Monster Magnet - Powertrip

New Jersey white-trash visionary and Monster Magnet frontman Dave Wyndorf spent most of the '80s and '90s dropping acid, popping pills, inhaling pungent weed, and churning out sludgy, drug-induced paeans to hedonistic abandon. And when he finally came down from his cosmic cloud, he realized the rest of the world was as messed up as he was. Addiction loomed everywhere--for power, money, and sex--and all Wyndorf could do was take out his notepad and marvel at the chaos. Monster Magnet's fourth album is a seething document of decay, corruption, and consumerism. "When you get tired of their crap, baby / Move over here and maybe buy some of mine," he shouts on the title track, while crashing power chords, throbbing bass, and tumbling drum fills resonate around him. Musically, Powertrip is less rambling and psychedelic than the group's past albums, owing as much to such confrontational garage rockers as the Stooges and Blue Cheer as to Black Sabbath. It's also more experimental. "Crop Circle" roars with blowtorch guitars and a circular groove; "19 Witches" and "Your Lies Become You" shiver with twanging surf-punk guitars; and "Space Lord" buzzes like a swarm of angry wasps. A powerful trip for sure, or as Wyndorf says in "Bummer," "If you want to spank your demons and make them pay. Baby I'm your man of the hour." --Jon Wiederhorn