Monster Magnet are a joke, at least to most people who remember them nowadays. Thanks to their attempt at becoming a commercially successful band, they released a song that is perceived as a novelty hit. “Space Lord,” in the parlance of its time, is pretty wack.
Talk to any fan of stoner rock and they will tell you a different story. Monster Magnet is one of the big ones, up there with Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Their first three full-lengths (Spine of God, Superjudge, and Dopes To Infinity) are among the best rawk metal albums of the early 90s, a collection of riff heavy songs with blazing solos, singalong choruses and a psychedelic bend. Having said that, their crowning moment might have been intended as a one-off.
Tab is billed as an EP but it’s almost 49 minutes long, spanning only three songs. The title track is a slow, repetitive 32-minute tune. It’s clear that their closest reference to the spacey, effect and drug-heavy sound was Hawkwind, yet it’s laid back character, hushed vocals, and minimalist percussion suggest Dave Wyndorf, John McBain, and the others spent their share of bong sessions and acid trips playing Spacemen 3 and Loop records. It’s an interesting sound for a band rooted in hard rock.
The results are mind blowingly good. While their regular albums are fantastic — inspired affairs of no-frills, headbanging, and triumphant-shouting rock — Tab feels like something original and transcendental, like they really hit on something special. This is perhaps their most inspired sound. In it, you can hear something similar to Sleep when they decided to shed the rules of genre to write Dopesmoker.
You don’t have to be high to enjoy Tab. Furthermore, I think that misses the point. Monster Magnet did something pretty brilliant — they made head music that can evoke the other-mindedness, numbness, and insight of a heavy drug with just sound. Not bad for some one hit wonders.
