Rope Trick’s 2017 release ‘Red Tape’ shared some great riffs, but its DIY production sound and some decidedly iffy vocals made it the kind of listen that would only appeal to the more committed stoner rock fan. Nevertheless, looking beyond the obvious flaws, Rope Trick’s semi lo-fi world of stoner grooves and garage rock crunch had an obvious potential.

That potential has been truly harnessed on this 2024 two-tracker, ‘Red Tide’. The thinner sound has been replaced with a pleasing warmth, and the once rougher stoner elements now take on a slightly bluesier slant, which gives the duo a much bigger sound. That is enough to make a still raw vocal work much better, and the decision to concentrate on extended arrangements – a la early Monster Magnet – allows for a much broader instrumental backdrop, and the music presented here constantly pulls the listener into a world of classic sounding desert rock and stoner vibes that no manner of budgetary constraints could ever kill. In short, Rope Trick have truly hit their stride.

The epic ‘Crescent’ opens with a jangling guitar sound, repeating an ascending and descending riff, giving no clue as to what will follow. By the time this has presented itself a couple of times, it feels oddly alluring, even though the arrival of a hastily strummed chord or two actually make everything sound like a band tuning up. The jam really begins to take form with the addition of drums, and after a couple of minutes, the blend of garage and stoner rock hits upon a desert friendly sound that has a strong potential. It’s when dropping a couple of the riffs to a more muted sound, however, that the melody really begins to work. There’s a groove in place; it’s sort of bluesy, yet not. It’s sort of stoner-esque, but not entirely. In desert rock terms, it does give a feeling of wandering in a huge expanse, of course – like a moment spent with Yawning Balch, but with sharper edges. The late addition of a vocal actually makes everything complete. The Rope Trick sound is still a little rough here, but by sometimes sounding like a very loose Queens of The Stone Age jamming with In The Ponds, everything works well for the style. Moving back into instrumental climes, the sharp edged, jangling guitar sounds work well when set against a deeper tone, and Rope Trick clearly recognise this, working through a lengthy jam where the desert based weirdness is delivered with strong bluesy undercurrents. After fleshing out several minutes with a definite groove, the vocal returns to hit the listener with a long croon that sounds like something rescued from Them Crooked Vultures’ edit suite. You might think twelve minutes could drag, especially with something so loosely formed, but this track works very well indeed.

‘Neptune’ presents the harder side of the Rope Trick sound, quickly sharing a classic stoner rock riff with the guitars suitably cranked. Again, with the way a loose vocal darts between some of the harder edges, it’s all too easy to draw comparisons with Queens of The Stone Age and a couple of John Garcia’s later projects, but the DIY approach taken here gives the track a much rawer feel. This works brilliantly when the main riff descales into a Red Fang-esque drone, coupled with strange, bluesy lead guitar. Those moments are also lifted considerably by a very natural drum part where a solid rhythm is augmented by several fills, showing an effortless style. More so than ‘Crescent’, the vocal feels a little surplus here, and this hits home during the coda when the desert-ish jams give way to a huge stoner-blues groove where the hard-edged drumming and fuzzy guitars have such a huge voice of their own that Rope Trick require nothing more to make themselves heard. In terms of DIY stoner rock, this is great.

Within these two lengthy jams, ‘Red Tide’ takes more twists and turns than some releases manage in an entire album. Rope Trick’s best sounds may well value arty and strange over anything that’s instantly memorable, but that doesn’t matter. The riffs here are often great, and the taut, sometimes uneasy atmospheres inject a little excitement into a stoner/desert rock sound in a way that makes the familiar seem a little more challenging, and in the best possible way. It may be a little loose at times, but for lovers of fuzz drenched 90s rock, the output from the long defunct Man’s Ruin Records and John Garcia’s post Kyuss world, this will represent twenty minutes’ worth of listening time well spent.

May/June 2024