Desert, Stoner Rock Supergroup Volume Introduce 'Joy of Navigation' Album With Title Track
(Us Them) Volume shares the first single (and title track) to their forthcoming album Joy of Navigation today on all streaming services. The band is Volume and it deals primarily in density: Thick and weighty as the abundant sand surrounding their Twentynine Palms, CA hometown, but also comprised of a mass of fine grit that can sear the skin with a gust of wind, and quickly dissipate into the ether.
Yes, that is to say, Volume are purveyors of Heavy Acid Rock. Doomy psychedelia, but with more raw 70s punk brash than masquerading metal. Volume draw musical influences from bands such as The Stooges, MC5 and Black Flag to name a few, while also crafting their own distinctive heavy psychedelic identity. And, with Joy of Navigation, the band ventures into heavier, more psychedelic tones, while also keeping powerful hooks as the focus.
Originally formed in 1993 by ex-Fu Manchu singer Patrick Brink, the band has featured a revolving set of collaborators, with ex-Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell playing leads on the forthcoming Joy of Navigation mini-album. David Catching (QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop) co-produced the tracks with Brink, as well as playing synth on the recording. Mike Amster (Nebula, Mondo Generator, Spoon Benders) plays drums on the mini-album. The current live lineup includes Mingus on drums, bassist Jason Hernandez and lead guitarist Derek Christiansen.
Brink founded the band in order to take the lead and steer the musical reins down psychedelic rocking routes. Having performed with a number of acts including the aforementioned vocals for Fu Manchu in their early days, VOLUME offered Patrick a new creative outlet. Over their career the band has shared stages with Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon and Goatsnake, and performed at festivals including Emissions of the Monolith and Stoner Hands of Doom (SHoD).
Brink's upbringing in the secluded desert town east of Joshua Tree and 60 miles north of Palm Springs had a huge impact on his songwriting. It is a place of beauty and harsh realities, and those contrasts are present throughout Patrick's lyrics and songs. After getting into punk rock by accident in high school Patrick started his first band a couple of years later with the only other punks in town. This early love of punk rock inadvertently led him to the heavier bands on SST Records such as Wurm, SWA, DC3 and St. Vitus.
Heavy As F*** (1996) and Love Is A Mountain And Heavy As F*** (1998) were the band's first recordings. In the Fall of 1998, the seven inch Check This Planet I'm Gone... was released on Superkool Records. Requesting Permission To Land (High Beam Records) was recorded with the help of Mike McHugh (Train, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion). Each song was recorded in one or two takes to retain the original heart and soul of the piece.
"It's rock and roll. Not brain surgery," says Patrick of the recording process. The end result is a potent blend of thirty-plus minutes of psychedelic fuzzfest freakout and perhaps some of the rawest riffs you're likely to hear.
VOLUME draw inspiration from a time when music was truly experimental and free. They see themselves as rock'n'roll torch bearers whose duty it is to bring the flame, intact, into the future. They invite you to join in that endeavor, for the Joy of Navigation.
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