Quest For Fire, Quest For Fire

“Quest For Fire”? Really? That’s the band name you decided on? I mean, why not at least do one of those 12-word names, or something with “wolf” in that all the hipsters dig? With a name like this, everyone is going to think that you are 1) a group of archaeologists doing authentic Cro-Magnon music, 2) a caveman version of GWAR, or 3) a bunch of stoners cranking out fuzz-laden tunes.

Since your album’s on Tee Pee Records, however, the answer’s obviously 3.

Moniker aside, Quest For Fire’s self-titled slab is one bodacious piece of work. In this day and age of bands trotting out what they think are throwback sounds and aping bad stereotypes passed down by supposed authoritarians, QfF is a real breath of fresh air. Even though that breath might cause you to fail a drug test.

What makes this album so much better than all the others is that this sounds like it could have come out in the early ’70s. Singer Chad Ross sounds like a second-generation Amboy Dukes a la “Journey to the Center of Your Mind.” His voice helps weave the tapestry that the rest of the band fills out. The album starts of with “Bison Eyes,” a song that would’ve been the byproduct if Josh Homme had been born in the early ’60s.

Guitarist Andrew Moszynski’s guitar playing propels the band by not playing the same distorted feedback tricks, and the band does a nice job of changing tempos, allowing “Strange Ways” to ride the line between a Crazy Horse song and what stoner legend Wino’s definition of “stoner music” is. For him the meaning is that the music should take you to a place that makes you feel like you are stoned. Mission accomplished. What’s remarkable about this song is that at nearly 8 minutes, it doesn’t drag at all. “Hawk The Hunts the Walking” unfortunately does, however, and a minute or two should have been trimmed off this near 9-minute opus.

Any review of this band would be best served by mentioning the rhythm section. Drummer Mike Maxymuik and bassist Josh Bauman do a remarkable job of balancing the traditional job of providing a music foundation for the songs and doing some free-form jamming of their own. Bauman especially does a nice job in making the bass a lead instrument at times.

Quest For Fire’s debut is not merely another slab of ’70s psych/stoner rock. It shows both what is wrong with the milieu of acts that profess themselves to be part of that scene and how good it should sound when it’s done right.