“Massive guitar- wielding “… “Flowing percussion” … ” Great big bad-ass rock and roll “… Tu m m l e r brings sounds from the far reaches of the musical spectrum together to create pure and heavy rock and roll. Sound so unique it’s been described as heavy acid fuzz rock meets stoner rock meets metal meets good ol’ rock and roll. Tummler has been compared to a wide range of bands such as Black Sabbath, Iron B u t t e r f l y, and other late 60’s and early 70’s greats. Four rock enthusiasts came together to meet one common goal: to create rock so heavy it will knock you on your ass… And this is how it all started

Tummler was born in June of 1996 in Champaign, Illinois. In September of 1999 Tum ml r recorded a three song demo which led to their first full length album “Queen To Bishop VI” in June 2000 under the legendary Frank Kozik and Man’s Ruin Records. The Tummler crew remained all original until the close of 2001. Having witnessed the fall of Man’s Ruin, the memories were just too painful to continue… Or, the guitar player thought living in California would be worth leaving his life’s blood. Down to two members, Brad Buldak and Jay Vance began to rebuild.

Enter Ryan Jerzak and Ginchy… Together with Brad and Jay, the foursome has smoothed the rough edges, discovered their strengths, and coalesced into a force to be reckoned with. With the guts firmly packed into a new body, Tummler assembled at the Great Western Studio to record their second full-length album “Early Man”, with Matt Talbot (of HUM fame) whom has produced the bands finest recorded effort to date. “Early Man” is comprised of first rate production, strong material, a raw arsenal of sound coming out you.

Tummler looks forward to living up to the Small Stone tradition of heavy ass rock label mates such as Halfway to Gone, Puny Human, Five Horse Johnson, Fireball Ministry, Milligram, and Porn (The Men of) to name a few. With the production of their second album complete, Tummler can get back to what they do best… The live show… With hundreds of shows under theirbelt, Tummler has shared the stage with bands such as L7, Nebula, Honky, Orange Goblin, HTG, Gaza Strippers, Clutch, Nashville Pussy, Anti seen, Goatsnake, Fatso Jetson, Acid King, Cutthroats 9 , HUM, the Hookers, Cuda, Speedealer, High on Fire and many, many more.

Tummler has endured carbon monoxide poisoning, the death of an SG, brake failures in rush hour traffic and radiator blow ups to make it across the US several times for infamous festivals such as SXSW, CMJ, Emissions from the Monolith and SHOD. See you on the road…

Klippa och rulla. If one were to translate “Rock and Roll” into Swedish that’s what you’d get. Translate it back and things get a little dicey. Mow and wheel; not quite a literal translation if ever there was one. Strangely, not the worst way to describe Sweden’s Skånska Mord. Fuzzed out psychedelica, the likes of which hasn’t been heard since the heyday of real rock in the 70’s, oozes from the amps and tears across the landscape like some kind of lawnmower on acid. The world starts to spin; everything goes black and then several shades of purple. All that, and then the songs kick in…

Formed in 2006 from a melding of the then-defunct and highly regarded Swedish bands Half Man and Mothercake, Skånska Mord was the next logical step in the natural evolution of both bands. A crossroads where Jönsson, Berglin & Englund’s more metal inclined Mothercake fell into the swampy blues rock of Bengtsson & Carlsson’s Half Man (just imagine a perfect world where Seattle’s Green River happened in reverse and you’ll get the idea). Blended rhythm section rarely sound this in sync, but one can easily chalk that up to the common ground shared by all the members. First, the fact that they all come from the same place, Örkelljunga, a small village in the south of Sweden. In fact, the three older members (Jan Bengtsson, Patric Carlsson and Patrik Berglin) have been friends since their early teenage years. Bengtsson and Carlsson in particular have been playing together for 16 years in Half Man and before that for even more years in various constellations, they’ve been pretty much inseparable through both their musical careers. Secondly, is their common love for old 70’s hard and heavy rock. A lot of inspiration has been collected through the years much like Bengtsson’s and Carlsson’s sizeable collections of vintage vinyl, amongst them a kings ransom of hard rock, progressive, blues and psychedelia. In some way this shared musical background has help give birth to a special sound, which is uniquely Örkelljungan.

All of this adds up to “The Last Supper,” the debut release for Skånska Mord. A record that neither band could have achieved on its own but seems quite natural as the sum of all its parts. Thick layers of pulsating rhythms stretch out beneath Jan Bengtsson’s powerful vibrato while Berglin and Englund trade licks back and forth ebbing and flowing like the tide in hypnotic syncopation. Simply put this record Mow’s and Wheel’s with the best of ‘em.

For fans of: Graveyard, Witchcraft, Greenleaf, Dozer, Soundgarden, Roadsaw, Sasquatch, Five Horse Johnson, 7Zuma7, Lowrider, Monster Magnet, Deep Purple, Kiss, Grand Funk, Cactus, and Clutch.

Copyright© Small Stone Recordings

March 1995 New Jersey: Introduction of non practical song writing and rehearsal. Lysergic developments and improvisational live performances are conducted by Mike Schweigert, Robert Ryan, Jason Hoffman and a unknown drummer. Subterranean demos are recorded and quickly destroyed. Live performances with the Melvins, Human Remains, Buzzoven, and Monster Magnet.

May 1996: Former drummer pleads insanity and disappears. Jason Silverio member of free form space rock band Sivle is recruited for drum duties. Band begins recording demos with Alap Momin ( Octopus from Dalek) What we call Lord Sterling is a myth of expanding sounds which all higher questions are involved. Occult rumors surround the band. Live performances with Deadguy and Atomic Bitchwax.

April 1997: Lord Sterling is approached by independent record label Chainsaw Safety about releasing its debut album. Handshakes are made and the band records the 10 song release titled ‘Your Ghost Will Walk’ with Alap Momin. Ryan and Schweigert are incarcerated on drug charges yet questioned about many unrelated topics one being of the interest of song titles. DAT Tapes and photographs of the band are confiscated and held by authorities. Live performances with No Knife, Bent Leg Fatima, Goliath and the Vampires (Monster Magnet), Casino Royales.

Oct 1997: Bass player Jason Hoffman moves to Atlanta to study Chiropractic and is replaced by Jim Baglino former guitarist in Human Remains, former bass player for Deadguy and the Casino Royales , current member of Lord Sterling, Monster Magnet, and The Ribeye Brothers.

January 1998: In the age of complete and utter confusion the Lord Sterling band provides a soundtrack for absolute decay and madness like a Salomonic key unlocking the 72 goetian demons to perform the lucifarian orchestra for its masses. The band begins to demo songs’ No more Identity’, and ‘Songs of Sinking Ships with Alap Momin. Live performances with Bluetip, Acid King, Gluecifer, Murphys Law.

March 1999: Band records self released ‘Amplified’ e.p. with Keith Acherman and Charlie Schafer of Word of Mouth studios. Stacks of Orange amps are procured and the use of Echoplex and the Moog keyboard become a recording standard with the band. Kerrangs magazine gave Amplified four K’s saying “This comes highly recommended to anyone disillusioned with the endless stream of Kyuss/Sabbath clones clogging up a once vital scene.” Live performances with Core, Atomic Bitchwax, Need New Body.

May 2000: Lord Sterling hits the road on a haywire east coast/ Mid west tour with friends and confidants Need New Body. The first week of shows is a complete success and then deteriorates into an Apocalypse Now styled dreamscape of odd events. Live Performances with Lightning Bolt, The Sightings, Need New Body, Grand Buffet, Dalek, Lungfish

April 2001: After a botched deal with Tee Pee records the band signs with the Knitting Factory’s Rubric records and begins pre production of its next album Weapon of Truth. Cellist Meaghan Peters joins the band for the recording and a few shows.

Nov 2001: Band records Weapon of Truth with Eric Rachel at Trax East Studios in South River N.J. Alternate mixes of the bands cover of the MC5’s Black to Comm are done at Word of mouth studio for Small Stone records ‘Sucking The 70s’ compilation .

April 2002: Weapon of Truth is released and stumps most critics . One Major multi national magazine which featured ‘Good Charlette’ on the cover gives a negative review comparing the album to the B-side of Black Flag’s “My War” Lord sterling accepts this as a total victory over the so called “alternative press” Live performances with Black Nasa , Monster Magnet Need New Body, Butterflies of Love.

March 2003: SXSW Austin Texas Lord Sterling plays the Tee-Pee record showcase and is picked as one of Austin Chronicle’s bands to go see. They also perform a 15 minute blistering version of ‘Black to Comm’ at the High Times Magazine party. ” If you think the war for oil is bad wait until you see the war for water ” is chanted during the middle of the song and Bums out many hippies and forces Wavy Gravy into a panic attack. Mission complete .. Live performances with All Night, Bad Wizard, Drunk Horse, and The Formula.

Fall 2003: Band begins demos for next album for Detroit’s finest Small Stone Records. Live performances with Five Horse Johnson, Halfway to Gone, Nebula, The Bell Rays, Easy Action, 25 Suaves, Lungfish, The Rye Coalition, Miss TK & The Revenge.

Jan.2004: Lord Sterling begins working on their third and most psychedelic album ‘Today’s Song for Tomorrow.’ To offer a brief over view of the album singer Robert Ryan says this “It must be admitted that its the work that counts. Its the music that we bring before you as our ambassador or as our nemesis. May it be a Mirror or a bridge for the listener. These songs, Today’s song for tomorrow’s people are not mystification its the entire human mystery. Rock and Roll, Future erupting, Holy tabernacle of Amplification Amen……”

Copyright© Small Stone Recordings

Giant Brain came about because of a painting, really… When Detroit art-tiste Mark Dancey painted what he thought Detroit genius-savant Andy Sutton’s brain might look like, the concept for a group came about one that would fuse all things good about Detroit music with the improvisational aspects of Krautrock. If only because the Giant Brain is native to the Motor City, one could think of Giant Brain as Can gunning a GTO down Route 66, or the Stooges speeding down the Autobahn in a late model Porsche.

Andy (bass, drum programs, and general concepts) had played in bands with his brother, Al Sutton, producer of records by such indie -rock stalwarts as Big Chief, Don Caballero, The Laughing Hyenas, as well as “stoner-rock” acts like Five Horse Johnson and Halfway to Gone. The siblings enlisted the musically and otherwise unemployed Philip Durr, former lead guitarist of Big Chief, and conveniently the only real Kraut in the neighborhood, and Al took the reins as editor/arranger. Together they began recording pretty much immediately. This Philosophy-101 musical method of thesis/antithesis/synthesis has finally yielded Plume, a merger of Krautrock and Stoner-Rock that will undoubtedly make Daimler-Chrysler wet its corporate trousers with envy at the Teuto-American synergy it can only dream to someday achieve.

As with the great Krautrock bands they so admire, improvisation is a major part of the Giant Brain, in-studio as well as live. The concept is devilishly simple: establish a basic premise, deconstruct, demolish and re-construct it, (if necessary) invite some friends to do whatever they’re good at, until the end-product is a right, mostly-instrumental, Detroit-cum-Stuttgart jam… Ear candy abounds on Plume, an album that should be experienced at least once with headphones and under the influence of something, anything. Live gigs, though rare, consist of the core band of Andy and Phil on stage with any and all manner of guest musicians, while Al mans the controls to create that “come-hither-so-we-may-rock-your-pants-wet” atmosphere out of the controlled chaos that is so desperately lacking from other, less off-the-cuff bands!

Plume is a record for fans of Kraftwerk and Kyuss, Neu and Blue Cheer, but we leave you with a word of caution: early versions of the Giant Brain’s Plume have been shown to cause impromptu outbreaks of provocative dancing. Consider yourself warned.

– Tracks

1. Raze the Leghorn Bar 03:58

2. Goddess of the Metal 03:50

3. Eating Cigarettes 04:45

4. Lefty Among the Leeches 03:05

5. Jesus Has My Leg 05:46

6. Stink of Two Men 03:35

7. Spatial Interpolation 04:43

8. Jimbo the Hutt 05:14

9. Way of Intercepting the Fist 04:47

10.Damone 03:36
 

– Reviews