Gentle Beast Deliver A Powerhouse of A Cover With "Green Machine"
Gentle Beast return with a new single that hits exactly the way it was meant to, with a bit of raw energy, hints of aggressive undertone, amazing guitar tonality, and just a perfect level of drive that really pushes the whole thing forward.
I've heard plenty of cover songs in my day, as all of us have. However, it's very rare that you hear a cover that pays a lot of homage to the original the way this one does, let alone a cover of a single from a band that I used to listen to fairly often back in the day.
If you're not familiar with Kyuss, then stop reading this. Go listen to a bunch of Kyuss for the next day, and come back to us. That's the best piece of advice I have for you if you don't know who that band is.
Okay, fine. I'll give you a little insight. Kyuss is an amazing band that a lot of people consider to be the kings of desert rock. The inventors of a certain kind of rock soundscape that blends edginess with vast undertone, particular instrumental tone, and this element of atmosphere that lines up with that heaviness damn near perfectly.
First of all, it's cool to hear a band cover a Kyuss single. It's a band that doesn't get enough credit, especially these days, and really changed the game in rock music, especially for a certain era in rock.
Gentle Beast, obviously being influenced by bands like that and plenty of others, decided to cover a single called "Green Machine."
Sometimes you hear a cover song and you can tell it's a band that is trying to get noticed by being so completely different and doing a version of a song that's completely reimagined and far from the original tune.
This is absolutely not the case. This is one of the covers that you hear and you realize right away that it is a love letter to the original tune and band.
These guys get fully into it, and really deliver what I would consider to be a spot-on cover of a track that defines that particular era of underground rock music.
The guys lay in pretty hard and heavy, with that massive sonic drive that you would want from a track like this.
They pull no punches, and because of that, the song completely thrives.
One of the things that I really love about this cover is the bass guitar tone. The tone of that bass guitar absolutely rumbles and feels almost like it's distorted as well, giving that almost classic overdrive feel that borders on fuzz tone but is a bit heavier and crunchier.
The drummer is totally blistering the entire time. He's on that crash cymbal like a fly on rice. He's destroying everything and really giving the band a lot to push off of.
The cool thing is when you listen to the song on Spotify and you're just hearing the audio, it almost feels like a live performance. That energy and synergism is fluctuating between the players and the band, and because of that, it gives a particular kind of aesthetic.
It's not just about overdrive or plain old energy, it's about the electric current that flows between the players during a live performance itself.
Then I watched the music video.
The music video is them performing it live. I don't know if it's old from one take or if it's compiled together from a few different takes, but either way, you can see that the recording is most likely done live on the floor.
They have an absolute ball laying in all the little details. The vocal harmonies, and so many other little nuances that stick together and make the song whole.
It's those elements and that attention to detail that gives the song the proper kind of character.
These guys are absolutely banging it out and do it with a total love for their craft.
The guitar solo section is totally nailed. It's done with a little extra effect and self-expression, but all in all, the whole thing is super tight.
This is definitely an ode to the original track. You can hear other elements of stoner, fuzz, doom, and even metal floating through the veins of their performances and sound, but the influence of bands like Kyuss on Gentle Beast is undeniable here.
Again, this is kind of special. If you didn't grow up listening to bands like Kyuss, you'll still really love this track. They totally crushed it and put plenty into nailing the soundscape.
I would definitely watch this video for the first time you listen to the track. It adds a certain nuance to the song itself. Seeing them in the studio performing the song is outstanding to watch while you listen to it.
This is closed-fisted all the way through the very end of the track. At the very end, the drummer does some cool double-kick rolls and adds a little flair to the closing act of the single, but the whole thing is on fire right from the start.
The vocalist comes through with those robust melodic approaches, and the song still carries with it the essence of what desert rock is all about.
So, if you did grow up listening to this underground heavy rock music in the mid to late nineties, then I'm sure you've heard this song before.
If you haven't, you still want to listen to this track.
I absolutely have to give props to Gentle Beast for not just covering this song by a classic band, but doing it right.
So, no more reading. It's time to go check this out. I've taken the liberty of embedding the video below. Check this out and remember where you heard it first.
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