Golden Void

When your group are named after a Hawkwind song, well, you've got make sure your reserve of rocket fuel is topped up. Luckily, this San Franciscan crew of youths gone cosmic have that box checked off. On their debut, they don't seek to out-pummel other contemporary hashers with speed or heaviness; rather it's on the golden fields of mood and groove where they excel. Not that they're hippies — "Virtue" proves their Sabbath-via-Monster Magnet cred. Still, Aquarian guitar fills and churchy keyboard swells ally them with stoner rock's middle earthmovers like Uriah Heep, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple and even Blue Öyster Cult. Singer/guitarist Isaiah Mitchell (who's also done time in Earthless and Nebula) pulls all types of rabbit out of all sizes of hat over the album's relatively brief stay on our planet, then returns to the void for further inspiration.