I first discovered Oakland, California’s stoner-punk heathens Glowing Brain when I randomly chose their excellent 2021 album Brain Dust out of the Sleeping Shaman’s review portal, based solely on the band’s name and press release. It went on to become an album that I revisit often, and it regularly appears on my work playlists.
The power trio: Conrad Nichols on bass and vocals, Doc Miller on guitar, and James Lyter on drums, proffer a charging, distorted, punked-up assault that I’d describe as a hefty dose of Motörhead coupled with the weird psychedelic sauce of Kylesa, and a layer of both Hot Snakes, and Akimbo across the top for good measure.
Four years seem to have flown by, and I began to wonder when Glowing Brain was going to release a new album. The band has stayed active, playing shows and routinely posting and engaging with people on their social media accounts.
Glowing Brain’s Memory Distortion
So, with that, I was stoked to see the announcement of their second full-length Memory Distortion , and upon release, was eager to hear the band’s new material. Memory Distortion opens with Long Haired Punks, a mid-tempo, heavy-ass rumbler that is a self-descriptive mission statement of sorts , as the band used that term back on the Brain Dust album cycle. As well, the track, to my ears, recalls nineties noise-rock originals Unsane.
The excellently titled Revenge Piñata is what I might describe as what a blown-out Hot Snakes might sound like playing through late eighties, Orgasmatron-era Motörhead’s equipment. Crude Bastard blows the doors wide open with some feral, pummeling, stoner-punk, rock & roll, before Glowing Brain lean hard into the aforementioned Kylesa influence with the psychedelic, distorted, riff monster that is Bong Exhaust, which for me serves as a killer change of pace after the pummeling of the opening three tracks. However, lest the listener think Glowing Brain has let their foot off the gas, comes the battering, blown-out, effects-drenched d-beat stampede of the title track, Memory Distortion, which definitely calls back to some of the energy that crackled through Brain Dust .
Just like that, we hit the halfway point with Hole In The Skull, wherein Nichols goes all-in on his Lemmy-isms, as this track is also to my ears, a fucking awesome, distorted nod to the late- eighties period of the much-missed legends. The back half of Memory Distortion features a bombardment of awesomely-titled songs, that fall into Glowing Brain’s chugging, rumbling, take-no-prisoners charge. Creeping Debt is loaded with plenty of distorted, Hot Snakes-style, downstroke mania, and a hefty, chest-rattling rhythmic thump. Glowing Brain up the ante with Bummer Machine, where Miller shines throughout with his riffs, tone, and quick bursts of shred that hit like a punch to the face.
Dying On The Vine is a two-minute blast of blown-out,d-beat pummel that sets up closer, Chilling Technology, the title being a nod to prog-thrash legends Voivod’s classic album Killing v. The song itself is a total barn-burning, d-beat ripper that sees Glowing Brain balance the chaos with tripped-out movements, such as the bridge in the middle, wherein the album ends on a high note.
Memory Distortion, while staying true to the band’s sonic aesthetic, sees Glowing Brain evolve their sound, incorporating a bit more psychedelic elements, and perhaps more of the garage-y, downstroke action, even as the distortion is turned to eleven, and the band still coming off as though they’re playing through a weed smoke filled portal that’s shaped like Motörhead’s War
Pig. Memory Distortion , not surprisingly, was a killer listen, that I enjoyed immensely, especially through headphones, as one can really hear the band’s many layers. I can say without hesitation that it’s great seeing these guys back.
Recommended!!!