Album Review: Monster Magnet - “A Better Dystopia”

 

Still very much out there and kicking, Monster Magnet's most recent album, 2018's Mindfucker, was a much welcomed return to form from Dave Wyndorf and his stoner rock veterans. Now in 2021 we get the prospect of a Monster Magnet covers album and I'm not quite sure what to expect here. Certainly, it's fair to say that there's literally only two tracks on here I'm even vaguely familiar with in the form of Hawkwind's psychedelic rave-up Born To Go and the Pretty Things' sinister spaced-out Death. Wyndorf and co definitely do a credible job on these, keeping the spirit of the originals intact and adding the unmistakable Monster Magnet stamp to 'em.

The rest of the songs I'm not familiar with from their original forms so you're going to have to excuse my ignorance here but highlights include the lurching riff of Solid Gold Hell (originally by the Scientists), the belligerent Mr Destroyer (originally by Poobah), the pure Stooges style chaos of Motorcycle (Straight To Hell) (originally by the Table Scraps) and the Cavemen's It's Trash (not the UK based garage rockers, a '70s psych band with the same name). Okay so there's a couple of songs on here that kind of meander a bit as well such as the group's take on Pentagram's Be Forewarned but that tends to be an occupational hazard with Monster Magnet albums in general really.

A Better Dystopia definitely strikes me as a bit of a niche album which is more for fans of the band and psychedelic die-hards than those with just a casual interest. But if you fancy a glimpse into the weird and wonderful mind of Dave Wyndorf then it definitely won't disappoint you.

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NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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