Amerijuanican

Stoner sludge stalwarts Bongzilla keep on chugging (or should that be "smoking"?) with 2005's typically self-explanatory Amerijuanican — their fourth full album of original material, but, amazingly, their 12th release overall in less than a decade's activity, if you count EPs, split singles, and the like. Not bad for a bunch of unapologetic reefer-heads, don't you think? — who says herb abuse stunts productivity? And that's but one of the widely held misconceptions about stoner rock dispelled here by the Madison, WI, quartet; the other being that sonic evolution within the style is an impossible goal. Sure enough, although the opening title track and ensuing favorites like "Cutdown" (at times near silent, at others exploding into distortion) and "Champagne & Reefer" (a Muddy Waters cover ground up into an Eyehategod pipe) still qualify as textbook Bongzilla acid-groove-grinds, ever-distinguished by Mike Makela strangulated rasp, the majority of these songs surprise and astound in both their brevity and abounding energy. Firmly rooted in Black Sabbath's doom legacy they may be, but prime samples like the driving "Kash Under Glass," the circular-riffed "Tri-Pack Master," and the amusingly named "Weedy Woman," don't just endlessly pound along, they actually rock! And since previous efforts often left the impression that riffs were being hammered to death for lack of other options in the band's stash box, here the newfound sense of economy contributes to what is arguably the most satisfying, and certainly most immediate, Bongzilla album yet. It may not offer as many extended head-nodding opportunities for the band's hardcore followers (though these are handed an olive branch via the 12-minute colossus "Stonesphere," complete with bubbling-bong sound effects!), but it does welcome "newbies" like never before, and should therefore help to expand the band's appeal.