Red Giant

You sold your copy of the long-awaited, but extremely forgettable In The Groove stoner-rock compilation months ago, and you can’t remember the Red Giant track anyway. Then come Monster Magnet’s Dave Wyndorf and Ed Mundell saying that Red Giant is among the best bands on the planet. You love Monster Magnet, but who are you gonna believe? Suffice it to say that the stoner rock market is now saturated with too many bands, and Red Giant is among the third-rung outfits clinging to the ladder. Even the impressive cover art by Derek Hess can’t save this album from utter mediocrity. “1960 Starchief” begins the ascent with Monster Magnet-ised flanger/phaser pedal effects, but soon sputters out with its monotonous riffage. Vocalist Damien (yet another band guy with no last name) sounds too much like Nebula’s Eddie Glass on “Blue-White Supergiant” and “.865 (The Battle For Longitude).” “Ring Of The Acid Pope” lobs some cryptic voice samples halfway through for variety — too little, too late. The time/space continuum is a recurring theme in the group’s often trite lyrics, as if they were paraphrased from Lee Dorrian’s personal notebooks. The band does get passing marks for effort, but Red Giant should be collapsing to a white dwarf very soon.