Monster Magnet cover proto-metal & psych nuggets on new LP (pre-order on ltd neon yellow vinyl)

March 25, 2021

BrooklynVegan has teamed with Monster Magnet on an exclusive neon yellow vinyl variant of their upcoming covers album.

Stoner rock vets Monster Magnet have announced a covers album, A Better Dystopia, which is entirely made up of songs by ’60s/’70s proto-metal, proto-punk, and psychedelic bands, including Lemmy-era Hawkwind, Poo-Bah, The Scientists, Morgen, Pretty Things, Table Scraps, Dave Diamond, JD Blackfoot, The Macabre, Jerusalem, Josephus, The Cave Men, and Dust (the short-lived NYC heavy psych band whose drummer Marc Bell aka Marky Ramone went on to join Richard Hell & the Voidoids and, of course, the Ramones).

The album arrives May 21 via Napalm Records, and we have an exclusive neon yellow variant on 2xLP vinyl available for pre-order in our store, limited to just 300 copies.

Speaking about the album, frontman Dave Wyndorf says:

We all agreed that we would be bored out of our minds within a month of lockdown. Monster Magnet loves the road. It’s a lifestyle. So, I considered our options. Rather than panhandle on the internet, hawking masks and Zoom-rocking practice sessions for dollars, I suggested we record a “bunker record”. A total DIY affair (band only) recorded and mixed in Bob Pantella’s small but potent Freak Shop Studios/rehearsal space right here in New Jersey. But what to record?

I didn’t feel much like writing, but working on anything was better than watching the news as hospitals filled up, people died, and American politics went bat-shit crazy. The world roared “Dystopia! Apocalypse! Revolution!”. I’d heard those words before, and they brought to mind my childhood in the late 60’s/early 70’s… and the music… and short playlist of songs (just one of many) that I’d been carrying around with me on my whatever device to listen to before shows. Of course, these tunes have also been in my head for more or less my whole life. These were not the popular hits of the time. This was like a playlist from the 4th dimension… strange bits of musical obscurity, mostly dredged up from that inglorious and freaky “twilight zone” time that preceded Arena Rock, Heavy Metal, Reggae and Disco. A no-man’s land of hard rock that still had remnants of psychedelia and garage punk but had abandoned any notion of “flower power” or frat house fun. And of course, they rocked.

Yeah, these songs were it.

The great bands whose music we lovingly interpret here were (and some still are) on the fringe, underrated, and in our opinion, really, really cool. I think that’s reason enough for us to do this album. Furthermore, A Better Dystopia is a collection of songs that I think reflect (knowingly or unknowingly) a paranoid time in history, but also deflect that same paranoia by owning it, fully. And of course, it ROCKS.

The first taste is Monster Magnet’s rendition of Poo-Bah’s 1972 heavy psych nugget “Mr. Destroyer.” They stay pretty faithful to the original, but they make it sound like a Monster Magnet song. Watch the trippy lyric video and check out the full tracklist below.

Tracklist
1. The Diamond Mine (Dave Diamond cover)
2. Born to Go (Hawkwind cover)
3. Epitaph for a Head (JD Blackfoot cover)
4. Solid Gold Hell (The Scientists cover)
5. Be Forewarned (The Macabre cover)
6. Mr. Destroyer (Poo-Bah cover)
7. When the Wolf Sits (Jerusalem cover)
8. Death (Pretty Things cover)
9. Situation (Josephus cover)
10. It’s Trash (The Cave Men cover)
11. Motorcycle (Straight to Hell) (Table Scraps cover)
12. Learning to Die (Dust cover)
13. Welcome to the Void (Morgen cover) – Bonus Track