The obvious enjoyment Dave Wyndorf derived from last year’s Spine Of God shows and the ace cover art for Last Patrol should be enough clues: Monster Magnet have made the trip-inducing space rock album we’ve been waiting for them to make for years.
Now, don’t get too excited – for all the sweeping, cosmic swooshes of Moog synths and driving, downstroke guitar lines that make up the likes of the near 10-minute title track and the racing End Of Time, Last Patrol isn’t aiming to capture the psychedelic onslaught of Spine Of God or the uninhibited experimentation of Dopes To Infinity.
What it does reveal, however, is Wyndorf expressing and stretching himself as a songwriter. Gone is the biker-rock bravado; tucked amongst the propulsive space rock are subtle, introspective numbers such as I Live Behind The Clouds and brief flirtations with sitars and tablas, notably during Three Kingfishers, while the self-assured, bluesy strut remains in the likes of Paradise. It might lack Satanic drug things, but we understand.
