By Keith Walsh
There’s some killer new sounds coming from Stereo Christ, a duo from Phoenix, Arizona. With Doug Gluth blasting a wide spectrum of harmonics from his bass guitar, and Moucha on drums and vocals, Stereo Christ delivers darkly esoteric tunes on their recent self-titled debut.

The opener of this seven track set is “The Dead,” with an energetic bass riff propelling a groove for Moucha’s haunting vocals. “Beautiful Day For The Apocalypse” ups the tempo a bit, in a tune that finds Moucha presenting a vocal melody that sounds a bit like Jimi Hendrix and a drum track not far from Mitch Mitchell. Moucha plays on an Evans kit with Zildjian cymbals and an Aquarian bass head.

Along with Moucha’s baritone vocals and drums that have been compared to those by “Madman Keith Moon,” Gluth’s complex bass setup is a defining feature of Stereo Christ’s unique sound. He runs an Ibanez Talman bass simultaneously through vintage amps: a Peavey Classic 50 2×12 combo and a 300 watt bass amp (depending on the venue, it’s either a Fender Bassman 300 or a Sunn Coliseum 300 solid state, pushing two 15 inch speakers) resulting in rich frequencies. Another component of Gluth’s “secret sauce” is his pedalboard, which boasts 12 devices.

The third track, “The Crimson Draw” enters Black Sabbath sonic territory (as does “The Dead”). The metallic minimalism finds Gluth alternating between playing lower on his bass for some parts of the tune, then carrying a lead line in more alto range, only to end the song with a chord on the bass guitar.

“Shadow Out Of Time” opens with catchy riff from Gluth, and could be a single. There’s tons of punk attitude here in addition to the metal. “Gigan” reminds me of Deep Purple as it tells the story of a sci-fi monster from the 1972 Toho film Godzilla Vs Gigan. “Bleeding Teeth” features a stellar riff on the bass guitar, then morphs into a fast-paced song with rapid fire vocal delivery by Moucha. This one gets the “explicit lyrics” label.

“Jimmy” tells the tale of a lost (if only in the metaphorical sense) comrade, with Gluth’s bass presenting some interesting harmonics and the slowest tempo on the album before speeding up in the middle part.. It’s a bit of grunge, punk and hard rock with the classic stoner rock trope about a sad character.

Gluth explained that he got into hard, guitar-based music because his dad is such a big fan of OG punk bands like The Adolescents, The Descendents and The Dickies. “I got into playing 100% because I wanted to play punk rock like the bands he raised me on. A lot of people pick up guitar because they want to emulate their favorite musicians. Guitarists are the ‘rock gods’ we are raised on, so of course everyone wants to pick up guitar. If felt like all my friends played guitar, so I figured it’d be easier to get into a band if I was a good bass player. That was pretty much the extent of why I picked bass instead.”

Moucha also comes from a musical family. “I remember I picked up drums first at 8 years old,” he said. “I broke all the drum heads in a short time right after. My parents threw out that kit because they thought it was busted and I didn’t really play them again ‘til high school when I was able to afford another drum kit. By that point I had found myself learning guitar because I wanted to be in a band and to start playing shows as soon as I could. For me being on stage is what it’s all about and that’s all due to my family being big into performing growing up.”

I asked Doug if the band would have to change their name if they tour in the U.S. Deep South: “Absolutely not! I don’t think it’s sacrilegious in the slightest, nor do we have any ill intent towards believers. Bands from the South like EyeHateGod or Goatwhore have been doing great for decades, and those names are way harder to tell your mother who you’re seeing that night!”

For my complete interview with Moucha and Doug of Stereo Christ, please visit Popular Culture Beat dot com.

Stereo Christ dot com
Stereo Christ on Bandcamp
Stereo Christ on Spotify
Stereo Christ You Tube
Stereo Christ Links
Stereo Christ Q&A At Popular Culture Beat

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