When a promotional blurb describes a bands’ sound as vacuum cleaner music it’s kind of difficult to imagine what they are going to sound like; combine that with the fact that El Gordo translates in Spanish for ‘the fat guy’ and it manages to conjure up an awful image of obese latino self gratification- well it did for me anyway!Fortunately El Gordo’s offering is a prime example of how to create a very strong slab of unadulterated tripped out stoner rock. The band unashamedly draws influence from the likes of Fuzz rock heavyweights Nebula, Fu Manchu and early Queens of the Stone Age. Album opener; ‘the end and back’ pretty much indicates what El Gordo are all about; heavy and infectious guitars that compliment the groove saturated bass and drums. The front man’s raw and honest vocal carries well over the rolling thunder below it, whilst tracks like ‘Grabber’ could give Nebula’s sonic space jam style a serious run for their money.
There are very few bands of this style that can hold my attention for more than half an hour or so, but the band manage to create one giant monolith of sound without ever sounding pretentious or more importantly, directionless. Tunes like ‘Echo; silence’ illustrate just how well the band understand the importance of varying the tempo and dynamic in a song to keep the listener interested; what starts as a slow-burning, quiet beginning ebbs and flows to a huge loud riff-fest of a crescendo.
El Gordo are certainly not without their faults, there’s nothing groundbreaking and totally original here, but to be honest as a stoner rock fan, it’s not something you consciously look for; essentially if a band has got a strong enough groove, they’re halfway there for me. The album as a whole is very strong and would be a worthy addition to any stoner rock fans collection. To gain maximum enjoyment (and refreshment) from ‘The man behind the machine’ listen to at tinnitus inducing volume with a beer in your hand; it makes the listening experience go very smoothly, although I now need to tend to a hangover – remember kids, everything in moderation…