Maker (Bonus Track Version)

The synergy of the three Carney brothers strikes again on their third release in just over a year. Retiring to their small barn studio in Virginia, Van, Jennings, and Lain tested the limits of their amps and recorded the exhausted sighs of their overdriven tubes by themselves while pushing out their earthy brand of stoner rock for Thrill Jockey. It's not quite as rollicking as an outing by, say, Fu Manchu or Kyuss, but it's a little more edgy than some of their contemporaries — take Dead Meadow's Old Growth, for example. In "Wax Worship," a drum solo downshifts slowly into a drudgingly half-time beat accented by fuzzy guitar drones and warm, airy vocal harmonies. At the best moments, the brothers show off their ability to make dynamic shifts, and seem to take pride in spacing out as hard-rocking songs transition easily into long, liquid instrumental passages. You could blame this on them becoming transfixed and entranced by the solitude of their country surroundings. Or maybe they really are stoned.