Review: Fire Down Below ‘Low Desert Surf Club’
Start tossing some tomatoes at me. I was an idiot for not opening Low Desert Surf Club earlier. I tore into it like a quick-witted pink rabbit the day before Christmas. Some sustain zero tolerance, while others display little patience in this world. There is a lesson to be learned by the end of every Christmas story, though. Just as there is at the end of the third album from Fire Down Below. It lays one thing on you, the heavy! Stoner rock dreams in young boys’ hearts can come true, but most likely not without the price of pain and loss of hearing.
Airwolf is a perfect name and sounds even more pristine up close in person. This album picks right up off the desert backroads where King Of The Road left us and hurtles us into a cramped van back into the badlands. It’s sharper than a whip with the production of the album backed up by Nick DiSalvo from Elder. No matter which billboard you pass in your desert cruiser, this man’s name and face has been all over stoner rock banners. Engineer Richard Behrens may just as well be another desert metal poster boy trying new ideas out is what Fire Down Below are basically all about. And this is exactly what they exhibit in the intro of Dune Buggy.
There are two types of music in this world, good and bad. Fire Down Below is far from being breath-stinking bad. They are solid Ghents in the most literal form. Belgium doesn’t strike me as a country that is incapable of rocking and never has.
It’s a deliberate all-out sandblaster prepared to melt faces…
Track six, Here Comes The Flood, of this nine track record is getting my vote as it remains steadfast and stuck in a haunting sludgy effect mode. There is no secret code to unlock Fire Down Below. You can’t even scratch it off you when you get the itch to listen to them. Trust me, it won’t be the last time I listen this solar flare headed straight towards me. You don’t need a key nor instructional manual. How good does one need it?
It’s a deliberate all-out sandblaster prepared to melt faces while power-washing all other garbage rock right off you. You can’t beat it! If you’re out there bargain-hunting, you missed another holy grail in 2023. It might not remain in my personal top ten by the end of it, but there is no doubt in my mind that it’s reserved as topper to my Christmas tree.
Label: Ripple Music
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Spring ‘The Strutter’ Chase
