Pet Genius

Pet Genius

[4/5]

Steven Brodsky’s pet project writhes and sasses its way toward one of the more unique meshes of dripping-wet desert metal and classic rock heard since Queens Of The Stone Age. There’s no slick veneer to be found on Pet Genius’ self-titled debut, only primitive bouts of indecision. Each song varies with such great strides, it’s often tough to determine whether or not you’re listening to the same band. Herein lies the treasure: If a band with such stoic roots in hardcore can separate and expand on broadening their musical pathways as found on Pet Genius, then it’s another notch on the bedpost for the sanctity of rock music. A track like “The Visiting Dynamiter” exhumes ’60s psychedelia, then switches gears at the turn to make way for “Walls Of Etiquette,” a rough-and-tumble sludge-fest. This is the sound of a cornucopia of influences suddenly being hurled at you, and it’s unbelievably good. (HYDRA HEAD) Ryan Prado