Monster Magnet

Well into his 50s, Monster Magnet mastermind Dave Wyndorf continues to lead his fearless bandmates hurtling through the cosmos, sidestepping black holes and kicking around Supergiants as if they were beach balls. The band's ninth full-length, Last Patrol, is not so much a space-rock tour de force as it is simply one of the Magnet's finest hours. With nods to back-catalogue icons Superjudge and Dopes to Infinity, opener "I Live Behind the Clouds" sets up a slow-burning fuse that ignites the nine-minute title track in a series of surgically synchronized implosions. "The Duke (of Supernature)" dials down the Dopes references for a mellow smoke break, while "Mindless Ones" pounds the point home again. Swirling in the middle of this vortex is a cover of Donovan's "Three King Fishers." That it took Wyndorf this long to pay homage to the king of '60s psych rock is besides the point, as this is the greatest cover from a group that obviously love covers (Hawkwind, Sabbath, Stones, MC5, David Gilmour, Grand Funk Railroad, et al.). Sheathed in stunning cover art, with the band's bull god mascot emerging from the stars, Last Patrol is an incredible display of mature stoner metal from dudes that view aging as more than just graying beards.