Karma to Burn
Arch Stanton

Cleverness comes in the strangest of places, this band from Hicksville for example. Can a more backwards place in the world. One thinks an album with this particular name would contain a long and exciting adventure through sands, desert towns, battlefield in a civil war and of course a bit more things, like a Bill Carson knowing about some gold. The ecstasy of gold would grab hold of us perhaps. This album completes the half dozen for these guys and they couldn’t have chosen a more attention grabbing name for it (well, they could but not many). So, what about this album then, the fist one I ever hear by Karma to Burn as the Hicksville trio have alluded me so far, their title this time however did not.

Instrumental stoner, some spoken word stuff can be heard, a bit of experimentation some cover stuff as well, there is a bit of everything here. Cool production, quite a bit of power, a tad raw, not very deserty and not very western as the title would seem to suggest. Well a bit wester with the Morricone stuff but that isn’t much. I wonder if the if the trio represent the characters, if so, who is who? The album has eight tracks where most are in the fifties, with 38 minutes of playing time and a fair bit of variation without losing its coherency. Good production, it is not the same adventure as the one with the title character.

Well, if this was the thing in the grave at Sad Hill, I don’t think I would be going through the same troubles to get it. Gold is better. But I was half expecting to be teamed up with an ugly one and then meeting another ugly one at a cemetery, with gunslingers duelling and all those things. I find this album missing something, besides the cool hats and shiny spurs. It is missing the voices, vocals would enhance this album massively. Not that I dismiss it fully, it just fails to make the impression it could have. This even though it is named Arch Stanton, that is not right.

If you still have no idea what Arch Stanton is referring to, there is a decent clue in the last song, there’s some dialog there which could direct you towards the right direction. In the end I would say that it is a decent album, though the music in the other thing with Arch Stanton is better and it shows a better adventure as well. If you like the band from before or like the Stoner rock/metal genre, then it is probably an interesting release to check out. I think I will be going to the Sad Hill cemetery to look for some gold.

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