Grifter ‘Elephantine’ Demo 2005

I’d been eagerly awaiting this debut demo for sometime now from new kid of British Stoner Rock Grifter and it sure as hell didn’t disappoint! This Plymouth based trio kick out 3 solid Blues infested Stoner Rock tracks with an amazing amount of flare & passion and I’m pleased to say they haven’t fallen into that ‘Anglo American’ sound that many bands of this genre seem to follow, although highly influenced from bands like Clutch, Kyuss and COC, they’ve still managed to preserve an air of authenticity about them.

The title track ‘Elephantine’ gets proceedings off to an impressive start with a monster of an opening riff, heavy, groovy and all the other expletives that we’ve come to know and love from this genre! This is soon joined forces by the solid backbone of Foz’s powerful, cymbal heavy percussion and Phil’s groovin’ bass lines. Vocal wise, we’re treated to Ollie’s laid back style, clean but with a slight gruffness about them, they’re also not too overpowering being quite low in the mix, but still with enough vigour to break through their awesome backdrop of grooves.

Next up is the incestuous ‘Brother Sister’ with its tongue in cheek (or should that be brother in sister?) lyrics show that this band not only have a great sense of humour by not taking themselves too seriously, but also know how to rock out the grooves with their catchy, riff driven Stoner Rock. ‘Man Bites Dog’ then brings this demo to a close with its Bluesy Southern Rock feel that chugs along nicely, full of big & fat guitar riffs backed up with powerful bass & drums with a sprinkling of Ollie’s commanding vocals.

Overall ‘Elephantine’ was an enjoyable listening experience, Heavy, Solid, Groove laden Stoner Rock on display throughout the 3 tracks and the quality, considering it was recorded by themselves, at home on an 8 Track Digi recorder is also impressive! With its deep heavy sound and clear mix its certainly an inspiration for other unsigned bands as to what can be achieved when working on a tight budget, which seems to have worked, as these Plymouth Groovers have now been offered a deal by independent label Fury 76 with their debut album due for release sometime during 2006!

Label: Self Released
Website: www.grifterrock.co.uk

Scribed by: Lee Edwards