FRONT magazine - August 1999
Spirit Caravan - Jug Fulla Sun (Tolotta Records)
Right, Let's talk about reputation: in particular, that of
guitarist/vocalist Wino, who stamped his unique identity all over
defining stoner outfits such as The Obsessed and Saint Vitus,
as well as influencing virtually every heavyweight act from Pantera
through Fugazi to Cathedral.
This is his latest vehicle for some fine, doom-laden rock: it might not
be unique, and the market is certainly crammed with bands grinding out
a similar groove, but in a darkened room wit copious quantities of
herbal relaxant this wll take you places you never dreamed existed.
FRACTURE #8 magazine - July 1999
Spirit Caravan - Jug Fulla Sun CD/54:52
Sweet mother of fuck - we have one mighty record here folks! Now my
love of heavy stoner rock is well-known around these parts and this
little sucker has been seriously quenching my thirst for it over the
past couple of months. It's got everything that heavy stoner rock
needs, and in massive proportions. It has the legendary Scott
"Wino" Weinrich (ex of The Obsessed and Saint Vitus)
as the driving force. It has guitar riffs fat and heavy enough to
loosen concrete, thunderous and bluesy basslines, drums that come from
the very steelworks of hell and a singer that has a throat borne of
Lemmy and Ozzy. The guitar solos are abundant and squealing and can
magically twiddle off into the ether at every opportunity, leaving your
fingers aching after the inevitiable air-guitaring has subsided. It has
photos of men on stage, hair flowing free under a single white
spotlight, guitars raised skyward played by hands adorned with tattoos
and heavy silver rings. And the lyrics...heck the lyrics...try this for
size, "I've got a two-wheeled sled of molten chrome, a well-done
iguana and a real heavy gnome." Inspired genius or what? It is the
mix of Black Sabbath and Motorhead that you yearn for in
your secret seedy little fantasies. But whereas a lot of contemporary
stoner-rock bands have brought it all up to date, SPIRIT CARAVAN
play it like it was 1975 all over again. And if you want to
justify it to your crappy punk mates, Tolotta is run by Joe
Lally, bassist of Fugazi. The man
has sense. And if you do too, you will hear this.