Hailing from Palm Desert, CA,
Kyuss (pronounced "kai-uss") has become something like a heavy metal equivalent to
the Velvet Underground.
Although they are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the booming stoner
rock scene of the 1990s, the band enjoyed little commercial success
during their brief existence, but their combination of sludgy,
down-tuned guitars (often played through a bass amp for maximum,
earth-shaking intensity), spacey jams, galloping thrash metal rhythms,
and organic drums became a blueprint, often copied, but never quite
replicated by countless underground metal bands.
Formed in 1990 by vocalist
John Garcia, guitarist
Josh Homme, bassist
Nick Oliveri, and drummer
Brant Bjork,
Kyuss
(named after a character from Dungeons & Dragons) began jamming at
so-called "desert parties," in and around the isolated towns of the
Southern California desert. The band gradually built a local following,
signed with tiny independent label Dali Records, and released their
first album,
Wretch,
in 1991. Under-produced and poorly financed, the album failed to
capture the band's live sound and went mostly unnoticed until sporadic
touring started earning
Kyuss a reputation as a ferocious live unit, as well as the respect of many fellow musicians. One of these,
Masters of Reality singer/guitarist
Chris Goss, decided to produce the band's next effort, and the collaboration bore fruit in 1992's stunning
Blues for the Red Sun.
Soon hailed as a landmark by critics and fans alike, the album took the
underground metal world by storm and established the signature
Kyuss sound once and for all: the doom heaviness of
Black Sabbath, the feedback fuzz of
Blue Cheer, and the space rock of
Hawkwind, infused with psychedelic flashes, massive grooves, and a surprising sensibility for punk rock, metal, and thrash.
Based on this sudden surge of interest, the band was
signed by Elektra Records just as Dali was about to go bankrupt, and
despite the loss of bassist
Oliveri (he was replaced by
Scott Reeder, formerly of
the Obsessed), the band continued building momentum with 1994's
Welcome to Sky Valley. Also recorded under
Goss' guidance, the album nearly matched the brilliance of its predecessor and saw
Kyuss
taking the novel approach of grouping the songs into three extended
suites. Still, despite such creative promise and an ever-growing fan
base, personal strife had already begun tearing the band apart, and
drummer
Brant Bjork was the first to depart when they concluded their fall tour. Then, although they quickly recruited the jazz-trained
Alfredo Hernandez to replace him on 1995's noticeably less inspired
...And the Circus Leaves Town, a final rift between
Homme and
Garcia finally brought
Kyuss' meteoric run to a disappointing halt.
2000's
Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss collected rare outtakes and live recordings and effectively put a capper on the
Kyuss
legacy, but after a period of relative silence, each bandmember's
talent began leaving its mark on a number of relevant projects.
Garcia briefly worked with straightforward desert rockers
Slo Burn in 1997 before reuniting with
Reeder in the much more promising (but ultimately doomed)
Unida, later lending his in-demand pipes to
Hermano and other bands.
Brant Bjork sang and played guitar in his own power trio,
Che (featuring his
Kyuss replacement
Hernandez on drums), and released a number of solo albums while joining top fuzz rockers
Fu Manchu on a full-time basis. As for
Josh Homme, discounting a short touring stint as rhythm guitarist for
Screaming Trees,
he initially retreated into production and spent much of the late '90s
collaborating with an impressive array of musicians on the eclectic
Desert Sessions. Some of this material was later reworked into his next major project,
Queens of the Stone Age, which saw him paired with original
Kyuss bassist
Nick Oliveri (who had kept busy working with
Dwarves) and, at first, drummer
Hernandez, as well. Ironically, by their third release (and last with
Oliveri), 2002's
Songs for the Deaf,
Queens of the Stone Age had achieved significantly larger sales than
Kyuss ever did, though it's arguable whether they've yet matched their predecessor's legendary status.
The Washington, D.C., band Wool specialized in a rough hewn but
melodic brand of punk-based hard rock for a brief part of the '90s. A
sort of D.C. hardcore supergroup, Wool formed in the early '90s when
brothers Peter and Franz Stahl (vocals and guitar, respectively) left
Scream and teamed up with former Government Issue drummer Peter Moffett
and bassist Al Bloch. The quartet's first offering was an EP, 1992's
rollicking Budspawn, which was released independently on External
Records. The material on Budspawn combined the four members' inherent
punk aesthetics with a tendency toward more straight-ahead, anthemic
hard rock and drug-induced psychedelia. Following a lineup change in
which Moffett was replaced by new skinsman Chris Bratton, Wool were
signed to London Records in the newly punk-friendly climate of 1993. The
band recorded Box Set and released it the next year. Following in the
footsteps of its predecessor, Box Set expanded on the basic blueprint of
Wool's already established sound; surprisingly pop-friendly throughout,
Box Set could have easily succeeded alongside the Stone Temple Pilots
or Green Days of its time, yet the album spawned no real hits. After a
less than enthusiastic commercial response to Box Set and an overall
lack of visibility, Wool split in 1995 when guitarist Franz Stahl joined
former Scream bandmate Dave Grohl in the Foo Fighters, replacing Pat
Smear.
The band took enough "time off" from a hectic touring schedule to record Mission: Control!, released in early 1999. As with the remainder of the band's major works, it was released by DeSoto, the label run by former Jawbox bassist Kim Coletta and spouse Barbot. Featuring arrangements that were sharper and scaled back from those of Jawbox, the record held the spirit of early XTC and the Pixies, along with retaining the Mission of Burma and Gang of Four-influenced foundation of Jawbox. Robbins also made a concerted effort to make his songwriting more direct, no longer writing in code or cut-and-paste snippets.
As the band set out to hit the road in
support of the well-received record, Barbot decided that his
responsibilities as an adult were too numerous to allow for the dusting
off of his passport. Friend and Jawbox touring aide Mike Harbin
was brought in, seamlessly fitting into the band as they toured for 18
months, traversing the United States as well as Japan, Europe, and
Canada.
Since Robbins
had become an in-demand producer throughout the last few years, the
trio wasn't able to visit the recording studio until mid-2000.
Throughout the following six months, they recorded the fuller-sounding Identikit,
which hit the shelves in May 2001. Just before the release of the
record, the band became a quartet, adding the keyboard and guitar skills
of D.C.-scene vet Ben Pape, which enabled Robbins to be less of a juggling act on stage. Outside responsibilities, including Robbins' hectic production schedule, led to the band's decision to split in 2002. 
