Savannah stoner metallers Space Coke will launch listeners through the roof at El-Rocko
Savannah psychedelic rock band Space Coke are aptly named after a scene from the stoner classic “Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie” in which Chong shares a bump of cocaine with Cheech that he acquired from some friendly aliens. The drug immediately sends Cheech into a destructive cross-eyed frenzy that ends with the two buddies physically launching through the roof of a house and into the stratosphere.
Yeah, Space Coke kind of sound like that.
What is it about psychedelic music, and stoner rock specifically, that so successfully conveys the feeling of being under the influence of illicit substances?
“To me it’s the other way around,” explained Reno Gooch, Space Coke’s singer and guitarist. “To me music, that state of mind, drugs can mimic that. It’s kind of dumbing it down talking about drugs in music, but to me it’s the music that gets me into that state. To me it’s a ritual. It really is magic in a way because I’m trying to get into a state and convey that state to another person, which is generally deeper than people want to hear when talking about stoner music.”
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Space Coke went into an even deeper psychedelic state with their most recent album “Lunacy” which was released last year. “Lunacy” is an aural journey through a smoky void of heavy fuzzed-out Sabbath-like riffs, spine-tingling guitar solos, warped and distorted vocals, pummeling drums, and haunting church organs.
“I wanted to a little darker than the last album, ‘L’appel du Vide,’ which is really our most popular album,” said Gooch. “When I put out ‘Lunacy’ I didn’t know if people will like it as much, but it grew much more slowly to have the same amount of people into it and get even better reviews. I just wanted to do something darker and deeper, in sound, but philosophical to me. When I’m playing it, the way I feel is different from album to album.”
Gooch may have mellowed out a bit since the inception of Space Coke, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for stoner music, which benefits from a warm wooly tone that can evoke deep frowns of appreciation from metalheads.
“Warmer and woolier is definitely what I’m going for,” laughed Gooch.
Gooch conceived of Space Coke as a collective that would allow him to bring in different collaborators to keep things interesting, but a few members have been key to their sound. Brandon Johnson has been the main drummer on both full length albums, church-trained organist Moses Andrews III has drawn sinister sounds out of a 1951 Hammond in the studio, and bassist Jay Matheson has provided recording engineering expertise from behind the boards at his legendary Jam Room Recording Studio.
Matheson has recorded Savannah metal giants like Kylesa and Black Tusk, and Space Coke follows in the lineage of Southern-fried swampy sludge.
“I knew Philip Cope (Kylesa) because he works with Jay at the Jam Room,” said Gooch. “I kind of a had an idea about it, but not until I got here and realized what a big part of the scene Jay is here. I also played bass in The Discussion with Laura Pleasants (Kylesa) so I got to see even more of the history of it.”
Space Coke are performing on Saturday, June 17, at El Rocko, although they won’t have Andrews III or Matheson in the line-up. However, they will be joined by Ryan Flannery (Chipper Bones) and Sleve (Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir) in a two-man bass attack that should generate some low-end rumble.
The two-bass experiment has already paid off at a previous show.
“We did it at El Rocko and it was awesome,” said Gooch. “It was Jay and Ryan and both of them were pissed at me because they didn’t think it would work, but once we were practicing they were like, ‘Okay, this is cool.’ I figured instead of having a down tuned rhythm guitar, I’d just have two bassists. It’s really something that has to be live. It probably wouldn’t work on a recording, but it sounds killer live.”
Also on the bill at El Rocko this Saturday are Florida band Hollow Leg who are a “demented sludge behemoth” that combine American blues with English heavy metal, as well as New Jersey doom-laden stoners Clamfight, and Savannah punk rockers, Manarovs.
“It’s just letting yourself go,” Gooch said of what to expect from Space Coke at El Rocko. “We’re so loud, as well. I’m a big believer in the frequencies messing with your cellular state. Our shows are for people who are going wild.”
If You Go >>
What: Space Coke w/ Hollow Leg, Clamfight, and Manarovs
When: 8 p.m., June 17
Where: El Rocko Lounge, 117 Whitaker St.
Cost: $12 ages 21+
Info: coastalrocksavannah.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's Space Coke headlines sludge metal show at El-Rocko Lounge
