By Keith Walsh
The debut from Square Wave Monolith out of Palm Desert, California, is heavy and hard, powerful and melodic. Fuzzed out bass, square wave distorted guitar, pounding drums and passionate vocals mark the four-track release, Time Is Now. It’s a mix of classic guitar rock and what the band calls “soul-psych,” in a stunning set featuring top notch performances and production.
Time Is Now is produced by Cameron Webb, whose lists of clients include NOFX, Pennywise, Social Distortion, Michael Jackson and Motӧrhead. Additional engineering is by Andrew Alekel, who has engineered work by Queens Of The Stone Age and The Foo Fighters. It’s no wonder then that all of the distortion and power on this EP shines through in immaculate fashion.
The players are music veterans, delivering hook laden performances and skillfully written songs. Square Wave Monolith are vocalist Vinny Berry, lead guitarist Jon Giordano, bassist Nigel Dettelbach and drummer Tyler Ontiveros.
There’s tons of rock and roll attitude here, from the haze of “Smoke”, the urgent anthem of the title track, and the searing criticism of “Alligator.” The spirt of decades of great guitar rock is present, from the bombastic riffs and drums of Led Zeppelin to the fuzzed out 9th chords of Jimi Hendrix along with later influences like Alice In Chains. It’s all wrapped up in a hard hitting, melodic set that’s too good to miss.
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