LA Stoner-Rock Supergroup Headlines SF Eagle
By Dave Pehling
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Los Angeles-based stoner-rock all stars Sonic Medusa bring their mix of heavy doom and galloping metal to the SF Eagle Thursday night alongside SF noise-punk crew Frisco.
Made up of such seasoned players as the rhythm section for legendary stoner-rock outfit Goatsnake -- drummer Greg Rogers (also formerly with the Obsessed) and bassist Scott Renner (ex-Sourvein and Brickbat) -- guitarist Steve Darrow (who played with Guns n' Roses precursor Hollywood Rose) and singer/guitarist Tom 5 aka Tom Guay (an early member of White Zombie who went on to found the metal band Angel Rot), Sonic Medusa first came together in 2009.
The following year, the group would record an EP of songs with former the Obsessed/Kyuss bassist Scott Reeder that same year, cultivating a sound that nodded equally to Black Sabbath's plodding doom and the locomotive drive of Motorhead and early Iron Maiden. By the time the band tracked the follow-up Sunset Soundhouse EP in 2014, Guay had departed and was ably replaced by Derek Christensen (better known by his stage name Dirty D, former frontman for the B-Movie Rats and Angus Khan). The new EP further refined the quartet's stew of '70s hard rock and metal influences.
The recording also got the band picked up by Bay Area-based stoner-rock imprint Ripple Music. While the band has largely been quiet of late as Darrow focused on his proto-metal cover project Sister Midnight, the band is currently working on a forthcoming new album that should see release through Ripple in the coming year. For this San Francisco gig, the band is joined by two local acts: Frisco and Thought Leaders.
The latest band project of a local crew of punk and metal veterans that first came together in 2017, Frisco's line-up includes singer Bob McDonald and guitarist Andy Oglesby of sadly defunct SF post-punk outfit Hank IV, ex-Acid King/Altamont drummer Joey Osbourne and former Lost Goat guitarist Eric Peterson with bassist Jason Ricci rounding out the quintet.
Taking a decidedly different direction than one might expect of a band featuring a pair of heavyweight metal musicians, Frisco explores a hard-swinging style of knotty noise punk topped by McDonald's tuneful, manic vocals that split the difference between PiL-era John Lydon and the lurching unpredictability of Scratch Acid/The Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow. The group has become a regular attraction in Bay Area clubs, supporting such notable acts as Red Fang, Big Business and Qui.
The band plays tunes from its debut album Love Songs for Phantom Limbs released earlier this year on Valley King Records. Openers Thought Leaders are a gothic post-punk band from Oakland that includes ex-members of East Bay avant metal/noise band the Mass and indie-rock outfit Early Monarchs.
Sonic Medusa with Frisco and Thought Leaders
Thursday, Dec. 12, 9 p.m. $9
SF Eagle
