'F*** It' Review: Mondo Generator's new album bristles with punk rock attitude and gritty stoner rock vibes
After eight long years, Mondo Generator have come out with a double whammy of a surprise for their fans in 2020, courtesy of their label Heavy Psych Sounds. They've just released their long-awaited sixth studio album, 'F*** It' on February 21, their first full-length studio offering since 2012's 'Hell Comes To Your Heart'.
Besides this, they have also announced that they would be unveiling another full-length LP titled 'Shooters Bible' on February 28, which was written and recorded in 2010 (with Dave Grohl also showing up), but ultimately never saw the light of day - until now.
So with this new record dropping, the current Mondo Generator lineup that comprises bassist/vocalist Nick Oliveri, guitarist Mike Pygmie, and drummer Michael Amster are sure to have fans of the stoner rock titans Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age thoroughly stoked.
Nick Oliveri famously played bass for both these seminal desert rock bands, and also had a short-lived tenure with a Kyuss revival project called Kyuss Lives!, before legal proceedings from Josh Homme of QOTSA forced the band into a name change - they're now called Vista Chino - and forced Oliveri to back out and then concentrate on his numerous other music projects, chief among which are Mondo Generator and Dwarves.
This new 2020 album, 'F*** It' grabs the listener by the scruff of the neck from the get-go and doesn't let up until it has pummeled you into submission with its raw punk rock attitude and gnarly desert rock vibes. There are shades of Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age liberally sprinkled throughout this record, so if you're a fan of any of these bands or even just a casual listener of stoner rock or hardcore punk in general, then you're in for a treat. The 'F*** It' album was recorded at Pink Duck Studios, which is owned by Josh Homme of QOTSA fame, and engineered and mixed by Ian Watt.
'Nowhere Man' starts off with a sludgy, loping introductory riff before descending into a fuzzy desert rock landscape. Then the band amps up the voltage as the ride veers into hardcore punk territory and its time to fasten your seatbelts as you careen across boulders and unforgiving dirt roads.
'Up Against The Void' continues where 'Nowhere Man' left off, as the driving Black Flag-esque drums and gritty vocals from Oliveri leave you breathless and emboldened. His lyrics are combative and claustrophobic throughout the song, speaking of being "boxed in," "pushed up against the wall" and needing to "get out of here alive."
'Kyuss Dies!' is a heartfelt homage (both in sound and lyrical content) to the now-defunct Kyuss and Kyuss Lives! projects that Oliveri had been a part of, and it seems that the belligerent bassie is now offering up his final eulogy and musings for these brilliant desert rock bands that should lived forever, but ultimately couldn't handle the heat. "Farewell my friends, it's time to die," says Oliveri in his ultimate parting shot.
'Turboner' snaps back into an aggressive punk rock sound and attitude, epitomized by the lyrics, “Well, I’m looking for cheap thrills, a fifth full of whiskey and a head full of pills.” The title track, 'F*** It' conjures up images of old-school Queen of the Stone Age with its melodic guitars and unexpectedly pretty breakdown in the bridge, complete with vocal harmonies - however, Oliveri assures the listener that he's still "an angry boy, so f*** it!" 'When Death Comes' is once again in a punk vein reminiscent of Dwarves - it's also hard to escape the sexual overtones of this banger ("When death comes, I'll be coming!") that ends with an explosive climax.
'Listening To The Daze' is a progressive-meets-punk ode to freedom with head-spinning start-and-stop time signatures, almost as if the Melvins had spliced two of their tracks into the same song. 'Silver Tequila / 666 Miles Away' takes a rumbling bassline and alcohol-fuelled thrash aspirations with the surprise inclusion of what sounds like cowbell on the unrelenting drums! "Talk! But all I want to do is walk away! 666 miles away from you" bellows a fed-up Oliveri, who is clearly thinking "F*** It."
One of the album's lighter moments comes in the form of 'S_V_E_T_L_A_N_A_S' which incorporates Oliveri's raucous call-and-response with a high-pitched, ultra-sassy Spanish dude, with both singers seemingly intent on your impending destruction if you mess with them.
'There's Nothing Wrong' typifies the hard-riding, fast-living life of an outlaw punk rockstar, who has no time for sorrow or guilt, and this battering ram of a track perfectly matches the lyrical content. 'Death Van Trip' sounds like someone took a doom metal song from, say, Electric Wizard and sped it up two or three times to make a perfect ride-or-die punk anthem, complete with twin guitar melodies and the snarky "No one dies for free!" 'It's You I Don't Believe' is Mondo Generator doing their best Black Flag imitation, with an ultra-fast tempo and aggressive riffs, and Oliveri venomously spitting at power-hungry control freaks - "You're like a politician!"
'Option Four' starts off with a sample of a wailing police siren - it sounds like a suspect is on the verge of being arrested. The four options he has are surrender, suicide, a life sentence or... Don't open the door and get really high! Oliveri's deadpan vocals are the perfect complement to this rebellious middle finger to authority. The album closer, 'Disease With No Control' sees the band once again rip into high gear with their nihilistic approach to death - "We all fucking die!" bellows Oliveri in his trademark hardcore snarl.
Sonically, it seems that the members of Mondo Generator draw a lot from the past - there's plenty of speed rock, hardcore punk, and progressive elements in this album, harkening back to Black Flag, Dwarves, and the Whizards, but there's also elements of desert rock-tinged psychedelia evident in the album's less-chaotic moments, reminiscent of Kyuss, Blaak Heat and QOTSA. Definitely worth a listen if you're a punk rock fan.