How Kyuss Defined Desert Rock with Welcome to Sky Valley
The band’s classic third album turns 30 today
When thinking of famous rock and roll cities, Palm Desert, CA, doesn’t immediately spring to mind.
However, many point to Palm Desert as the birthplace of the stoner rock genre, which has produced so many great bands, not the least of which is Queens of the Stone Age. But when tracing the roots of this musical family tree one will find that it starts with Kyuss.
As the name implies, Palm Desert has a desert climate and Kyuss cut their teeth playing parties outdoors at night. Their equipment was powered by gasoline generators and the musicians and audiences were powered by a cornucopia of intoxicants. This environment proved pivotal in forging Kyuss’s unique blend of rock, metal, and psychedelia.
While there exists some controversy among the group’s fanbase, many will point to their third album, Welcome to Sky Valley, as the apex of the artistic output. Originally slated for release in 1993, the album was delayed due to their label Chameleon Records going out of business. Elektra Records picked up the band’s contract and released Welcome to Sky Valley on June 28th, 1994.
Call it stoner rock, metal, hard rock, or whatever, Welcome to Sky Valley is a masterclass in desert-derived rock ‘n’ roll. Kyuss knew what they were doing at this point and had worked with producer Chris Goss on their previous album, Blues for the Red Sun, so he also possessed a great understanding of what the band was going for. At least part of their vision included a return to listening to albums as a whole rather than skipping through and listening to just a handful of singles. To this end, the original version of the CD set the tracks into 3 sections, with the first two sections containing three songs while the third section contained four songs. Hence, the listener is pushed to absorb the album as a series of movements, almost possessing a symphonic quality minus the progressive baggage that the term conjures.
The first triptych begins with the driving “Gardenia.” The guitar opens with a riff that sounds like a bong emerging from a sandstorm and sets the mood for all that follows. The song is undoubtedly heavy but locks into a groove that never feels rushed. “Gardenia” steamrolls the listener at its own pace.
Immediately obvious is the excellent bass performance by Scott Reeder who replaced Nick Oliveri. While Oliveri has become the poster child for stoner rock bass, Reeder, who previously played with Wino’s The Obsessed, is every bit his equal. His tone is massive and lines nimble. He particularly shines on the instrumental break midway through the tune, channeling equal parts Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and The Who’s John Entwistle.
The instrumental “Asteroid” follows and leans deeper into the band’s psychedelic side, the desert at night transformed into an alien landscape. As mellow and intoxicating as the quiet sections are, the heavy riff that alternates is earth-shattering. “Asteroid” is a worthy successor to Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan”, capturing the same mystical vibe.
“Supa Scoop and Mighty Scoop” closes the first movement of the record and finds common ground between Tool and Neurosis, all filtered through Kyuss’s desert rock sensibilities. Drummer Brant Bjork swings like a jazz percussionist with hammers for hands and guitarist Josh Homme and Reeder find Bjork’s groove and take off into a spacey but heavy jam.
The second set of songs kicks off with “100°” which feels like a reimagining of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. But if Deep Purple’s song sounds like driving a muscle car to the strip to pick up women, “100°” sounds like driving the same car across America’s mythic west because you’re on the lamb. It’s a gritty rocker with John Garcia’s gravelly vocals proving the perfect compliment to the music.
Much like “Asteroid” before, the second song in this set is the mellow “Space Cadet.” It bears a certain resemblance to Alice In Chains’ acoustic releases, Sap and Jar of Flies, which came out the two previous years. But Bjork’s percussion and Reeder’s acoustic bass work construct a heavier groove and the song becomes one of the strongest on the album.
Speaking of Kyuss’s ‘90s rock contemporaries, “Demon Cleaner” has been covered at times by Tool. In the context of Welcome to Sky Valley, the song fits right in as a Kyuss tune, but the similarity to Tool is hard to ignore, as both bands possess a similar tom-driven drumming and brooding vocal performance.
The final set of songs are some of the most aggressive of the album. “Odyssey” hints at Homme’s professed love of punk. A short reprieve comes three-quarters through the song with a softer psychedelic break. “Conan Troutman” keeps the intensity cranked. The riffing seems to reveal a familiarity with both The Melvins and Black Flag. Bjork’s drumming is hyperactive and extremely impressive.
“N.O.” evokes Motörhead jamming with Chicago doomsters Trouble, a feeling reinforced by Garcia’s vocal similarities to Trouble’s Eric Wagner. The album closer “Whitewater” starts mellower than its predecessors but soon finds a groove that sounds like Soundgarden at their heaviest. Garcia belts out a killer melody. The first half of the song begs the question, “why weren’t these guys more successful?”. They once again break into an instrumental jam, which might explain their lack of radio exposure, but also it’s what makes this album so great. Homme builds tension with his guitar solo while Bjork and Reeder ride a monster rhythm that feels like it’s even bigger than the sum of its parts. The song slowly winds down like a pair of tail lights on a desert highway.
Like so many great albums, the lineup broke up soon after the recording. Brant Bjork quit due to his dislike of touring and the tension it created within the band.
The rest of the group soldiered on to release one more album, 1995’s …And the Circus Leaves Town. A strong record, it didn’t have the expansive atmosphere of Welcome to Sky Valley. Homme had already begun to take a more minimal songwriting approach that would foreshadow his career to come.
He of course would go on to form Queens of the Stone Age, a group that would capture the level of success that eluded Kyuss. Bjork, Reeder and Garcia would also go on to form a plethora of bands, all expanding on the stoner rock template. Fu Manchu, Eagles of Death Metal, Mondo Generator, and countless more acts sprang forth from the scene.
But for many Kyuss, and specifically Welcome to Sky Valley, could never be topped.
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- How Kyuss Defined Desert Rock with Welcome to Sky Valley - June 28, 2024
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