Living in Detroit at the time, I was blessed and cursed by being around for the first rumblings, explosion and aftershock of the garage rock revival. The White Stripes, The Detroit Cobras and Electric Six packed out venues nationwide, while The Universal Temple Of Divine Power, The Deadbeat Moms and the hadituptoheres kept the local scene vital and vibrant. I suppose that now, in these days of stoner rock experiencing a resurgence, it’s only natural the Motor City would throw down its gauntlet.
Supernatural Alliance may be Octopus’ first, but you wouldn’t know it from the fluidity and comfort you feel within the playing herein. Ever hear an album where you feel the musicians are jockeying for position, all stumbling over themselves in effort to be the focal point? This isn’t one of those, and I’d honestly balk at calling what the quintet does as anything resembling “stoner rock” of the dunebuggy-friendly “alternative” desert swill foisted upon us by Nebula and most Fu Manchu, so effortlessly does each member move about in their space, while complimenting their bandmates. Vocally, Masha Marjieh comes across as the love child of Janis Joplin and Grace Slick, able to belt at Gospel level, but also conjuring the trippy, hazy-daisy world of Haight-Ashbury, often within the same song, while Matt O’Brien and Chuck Burns hold down the rhythm section, keyboardist Adam Cox and guitarist J. Frezzato working more as painters, coloring the soundscape, giving detail and nuance to the final work. Musically, from the boot-stomping, fist-pumping “Strike (While The Iron Is Hot)” to the fantasy-fueled “Sword And The Stone” to the syrupy-not-saccharine “All The Love”, any fan of rock done right should pledge their loyalty to the Supernatural Alliance.
Much like their hometown, Octopus has crafted an album bereft of frills and fancy footwork, reliant on the power of the music alone to carry it through. This sort of stuff is timeless, and a rarity nowadays.
