There’s something incredibly unassuming about the debut album for Dark Tooth Encounter. It comes from those behind the stoner rock phenomenon, in the main guitarist and multi instrumentalist Gary Arce, a founding member of Yawning Man, who were responsible for some of those legendary generator parties that blew the minds of youngsters Brant Bjork and Josh Homme who would later go on to form Kyuss (and cover Yawning Man’s Catermeran). There are definite links to Yawning Man here, firstly it’s instrumental, secondly it’s incredibly hypnotic with slow repetetative drawling riffs lulling you into a near comatose state, then there’s the desert twang of Arce’s guitar (often utilising lap steel). Arce is joined here by Yawning Man collaborator Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson) also Scott Reeder (Kyuss) who both drop in some bass on a couple of tracks. The real key here though is Bill Stinson’s percussion – the press release describes his beats as ‘metronomic,’ and that’s right on the money, another word could be minimal, as it’s so focussed, to the point – free from unnecessary flourishes. It was recorded in the SST studio by Mike Sheer and it’s a relationship that becomes even more explicit in Arce’s other project Ten East in which Greg Ginn (Black Flag) actually contributes. Soft Monster’s isn’t as big, doesn’t have the bottom end growl that you’d initially expect given its pedigree. There’s a real link to instrumental Meat Puppets, though there’s also that repetitive minimalism, and an element of desert highway psychedelia. The focus is on Arce’s guitar work, these incredible riffs that seem to draw upon so much, yet never feel derivative and the cumulative effect is this feeling of listless momentum. It’s incredibly evocative music – yet it’s just bass drums and guitars instrumentation. Not unlike the desert however, the space and repetition of this music has this peculiar almost out of body effect on you.
Bob Baker Fish
