Monster Magnet ‘Mindfucker’ Review: Dave Wyndorf makes a party record to help survive the Trump era.
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I had this idea in my head that this would be kind of a “good time” record…But with a real Detroit edge to it….Why not? I’d never done that before. When writing an album of songs, I always leave the lyrics till last. Well, my timing couldn’t have been worse. I wrote all this music, arranged it, put it together, and said, “Alright, we’ve got all this stuff recorded and I’ll dive in and write the lyrics beginning Jan 9, 2017.” Well that week was Trump’s inauguration. And like anybody else in the world, I watched the information age just completely collapse on itself.”-The Mindfucker Manifesto
That quote from Dave Wyndorf is from the press release of Monster Magnet’s new album Mindfucker (out March 23rd on Napalm Records), and it perfectly encapsulates the challenge of making unabashed, euphoric hard rock in an stress-out era where simple pleasures feel hard to come by.
Click here for my Podcast interview with Dave Wyndorf discussing the new album
Mindfucker is also a reaction to the band’s past two albums, 2014’s Milking The Stars and 2015’s Cobras and Fire (which were grandiose re-imaginings of 2013’s Last Patroland 2010’s Mastermind, respectively).
Where those albums saw Wyndorf letting his freak flag fly, indulging in the band’s most psychedelic and spacey tendencies, Mindfucker is the group’s most straight ahead album since their 1998 smash Powertrip.
Things kicks off with Rocket Freak, a rollicking Stooges-style number that barrels ahead like a freight-train with, followed by the pummeling, sinewy pleasures of Soul, while the title track’s anthemic chorus is an instant earworm infused with MC5 boogie.
The disconnect between the fist-pumping euphoric rock and Wyndorf’s politically infused lyrics are pronounced, and fascinating: I’m God is a searing track offering Old School Testament retribution for our current predicament: When I made you I also made the stars. And they turned out fine while you keep wreckin’ the car. And all you slobs have a got a lot of nerve. And the end of times is all you deserve.
While the album is centered on punchy, no-frills riffage, Wyndorf and co. offer variations on a theme, from the moody, sullen Drowning to the sitar-inflected All Day Midnight. They also perform a pounding cover of Ejection (by Hawkwind’s Robert Calvert), which they easily make their own.
They save the best for last, however, with When The Hammer Comes Down, featuring an absolutely pulverizing riff and Wyndorf at his howling best, that ends the album with a bang.
Wyndorf has stated he wrote Mindfucker to play to the strengths of the group’s latest lineup (which also includes Phil Caivano, Bob Pantella, Chris Kosnick and Garrett Sweeney), and this is felt throughout. This is an album made to be performed live, blasted at ear-piercing volume.
Mindfucker delivers on its promise of escapist fun, while still providing shrewd social commentary. It may not recall the group’s heady, trippy heyday, but it feels downright therapeutic in an era of information overload.
Buy Monster Magnet’s Mindfucker on Amazon.