Review Sidewinder – ‘Talons’

Stoner/Doom

Wyrmwood Records

Release date – August 23rd 2024

Review By Smudge Smith

Sidewinder hail from Wellington, NZ and were formed in 2021. They kicked out a debut called ‘Vines’ in 2022 and here’s their sophomore effort, which guitarist Ben Sargent says is a lot darker and heavier with some monster riffs, doom sections and some eerie swampy blues. What’s not to like?

It’s a sedate start on opener ‘Guardians’ with a twangy strum and singer Jem Tupe laying down a couple of lines like a torch song but prepare yourself because they come in on a monster riff before they settle down on a bluesy groove, but that riff returns on the chorus so don’t get too comfortable. ‘Wasted Space’ is groovier and has some crushing doom sections before the massive stoner roll of ‘Prisoner’. Shit gets creepy and eerie on ‘The Depths’ which is a slow dramatic doom and shows Tupe’s impressive range. ‘Disarm The King’ goes up several gears on some righteous stoner boogie before ‘Desert Song’ kicks up a load of dust and we get to the impressive stoner/psych of ‘Northern Lights’. Final cut ‘Yggdrasil’ is proper heavy to start then eases back settling into another tidy groove.

I’ve been blessed with quality stoner this month, and this is right up there. Ben Sargent is right on the money but what he didn’t mention is the wonderful clean melodic vocals of Jem Tupe which are a great counterpoint to the weight of the music and keeps things interesting. Difficult second album? Not on this evidence.

Band –

Jem Tupe – Vocals

Ben Sergent – Guitar

Thomas Rousell – Guitar

Sean Fitzpatrick – Bass

Grant Lister – Drums

Track List –

1 – Guardians

2 – Wasted Space

3 – Prisoner

4 – The Depths

5 – Disarm The King

6 – Desert Song

7 – Northern Lights

8 – Yggdrasil