Stacs of Stamina

Cashew Fenny

BY Thomas QuinlanPublished Oct 1, 2002

Demonstrating that Sweden has more going on musically than just a bunch of ass-kicking hard rock acts, the three-man Stacs of Stamina (vocalist/producers Johan and Gesan, and vocalist Marcus) present their newest. The Cashew Fenny mini-LP flips between hip-hop variations of space rock (think Clouddead and Reaching Quiet) and sound clashes with roots in the Bomb Squad sound of early PE. The album may be named for the spacy "Cashew Fenny" track, which also features a stripped-down version entitled "Coconut Fenny," but it's the chaotic "The Bluebird?" that steals the show. For the first 30 seconds things come off a little rough, but once the slow and simple heavy metal drum beat encounters the bass from the brass, things get out of control, in a good way. And halfway through the track it suddenly becomes all atmospheric. Then there's the dark sound and vocal images of "Nightmare Manifesting," which is somewhere between Cage and El-P. And Creepy sounds and a suspenseful piano loop transform into a spaced-out vibe with a few cuts four minutes into "Solblade." There's nothing to really complain about with Cashew Fenny, except maybe for the unusual accent. Either way, fans of the experimental will appreciate what Stacs of Stamina are offering the world.
(Sideshow)

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