Ach, split singles...a delight to the record collector when bands contribute exclusive tracks to such vinyl delights, and especially when one of the bands concerned turns out to be a previously unknown entity...but a sheer nightmare to music journalists having to review such offerings, when not having review either of the bands before! I mean, having bought Cortez' 2007 debut “EP” Thunder In A Forgotten Town, I'm already familiar with what they bring, but until recently most things Stoner were left to a specialist colleague. Ah well...Borracho being the band this release was put under our attention for, I guess we'll start with that outfit first, eh?
Having been formed back in 2007 as a 4-piece band comprising singer/ guitarist Noah, guitarist/ singer Steve, bassist Tim and drummer Mario Trubiano, Borracho (which is Spanish for “drunkard”) made its debut recordings on a 2008 split single on Germany's No Balls Records label, with scene giants Adam West. The 7-inch however did not infuse record labels with the necessary confidence to offer the band a deal off-hand, but No Balls would nevertheless issue the band's June 2011 debut album Splitting Sky on limited edition, the band releasing the album on CD via their own label The Living Room Records. It found the band literally explode on their local Washington DC scene, garnering one positive review after the other (for some details, check the “about” section at the band's own (www.) borrachomusic.com). The band then (in early October of the same year) released a 7-inch single for their album's stand-out track “Concentric Circles” through the Fandango imprint, and a video for “All In Play”. About a year later (late November 2012), Borracho returned with their 10-inch EP Plunge/ Return. Issued through Strange Magic Records, the near 23-minute affair was actually the closing track of the Splitting Sky album, previously not available on vinyl. In April 2013 then, the band issued a new 7-inch single Mob Gathering/ Short Ride (When It's Over) of previously unreleased material, a limited edition affair released in collaboration between No Balls and the Spanish Ghost Highway Recordings.
Meanwhile, the band's lead singer had chosen to pursue professional endeavours, and Borracho continued on as a trio, and releasing their 5-song, 35-minute “EP” Oculus mid-June that same year, delivering the band's typical fuzzed-out down-tunes sound with a slightly different lead singer. Songs with a sonic similarity, but with a clearer emphasis on the riffs and rhythms, and as such the band had progressed forward significantly. Over the years, Borracho has shared stages with the likes of Fu Manchu, Truckfighters, Karma To Burn, Jucifer, Lo-Pan, Elder, and many more. The band's very first gig, on August 28, 2008, incidently not only saw the band share the stage with Solenoid, but also with Cortez! The guys also played at the infamous Stoner Hands Of Doom XI and XII festivals, and this single issued by Japanese label was not only to introduce them over there, but also used as a stepping stone for the trio's conquest of Europe (by the time you read this, a short tour which brought the band to the UK, Denmark, Germany and Holland in late April and early May, has already passed)!
Okay then...Cortez are from Boston, Massachusetts, where they were founded a year prior to Borracho, in 2006, from the ashes of that town's already infamous Stoner acts Fast Actin' Fuses (delivering guitarist Scott Fuse, whom had previously also been active in Favorite Atomic Hero, Razorwire and Suckerpunch, and has since left the bands Crawl and Bastard Squad - he is currently also active in Black Thai) and Sin City Chainsaw. The latter band delivered the Cortez's original singer Curtiss Caswell, bassist Jay Furlo (whom had previously been with Steelhead, and currently also plays in Big Top Vertigo), and drummer Jeremy Hemond (also previously with Steelhead, and currently also playing in Black Thai and Roadsaw). Together with second guitarist Tony Vegas (former bands The Supersoul Challenger, Swamp Witch Revival, Redeemer, Novadose, HellWheelDrive, and Fury 440, and currently active in Sun Gods In Exile – I am uncertain at which point of his career he entered the band, or when in fact he left it...more about that later). That incarnation of the band recorded and released Cortez' debut Demo 2006 (in Nov. of that year), and was also present for the Buzzville Records release of the Nov. 2007 6-track, 34-minute mini-album Thunder In A Forgotten Town (the acquisition of which constituted my acquaintance with the band). Live performances found the producer of that recording, Matt Schleicher, temporarily falling in on the bass for Furio.
2008 brought the first actual line-up changes, and not just once, but twice, as the singer was replaced by Marc “Gaff” Gaffney (now formerly of Gaffney and currently with Gozu) that same year (whom in turn was replaced by current singer Matt Harrington in 2009, with Craig Riggs of Roadsaw, White Dynamite and a series of previous bands, taking over live duties for some time in 2008), and Vegas was replaced first by Doug Sherman (also formerly of Gaffney and currently of Gozu, but additionally counting tenures with H1N1, Heimlich Maneuver, Mob Hit and Superhoney to his curriculum vitae), whom left that same year, not to be replaced...for the time being. Meaning that the team which recorded the late March 2010 released Demo 2009, must've been Harrington-Fuse-Furlo-Hemond. In 2012 then, the band not only recruited one Alasdair Swan (formerly known to have played with Invain and The Eschaton Creed) into their fold, but also released their first real self-itled full-length on the Bilocation Records label, in May. I'm just not certain of which event took place first! At any rate, the new song was recorded by the 5-piece band, for sure!
What more do I need to say? Two Stoner bands on one 7-inch, two songs short enough to fit the 45 rpm, 7-inch format (with Borracho's track at 4:40 being the longest), but still long enough to go through the usual ritual of verse-chorus-verse (Cortez' track clocking in at 3:41). If you're a Stoner fan and are into exclusive tracks, then by all means try to pick up a copy of this 7-inch. If not, leave it be, and possibly await the possibility to buy the tracks as downloads!