Wellwater
Conspiracy
“The Scroll
And Its Combinations” (2001)
The
Band :
- Matt Cameron | drums, vocals, guitars, keyboards,
photography
- John Mcbain | guitars, bass
guitar, drums, keyboards
Additional
musicians and production
- Gerry
Amandes | vocals on "What Becomes of the Clock"
- Derek
Burns | vocals on "Tidepool Telegraph" and "Tick Tock 3
O'Clock"
- Paul
Burback | additional vocals on "Tidepool Telegraph" and
"Tick Tock 3 O'Clock"
- Amy
Denio | saxophone on "Tick Tock 3 O'Clock"
- April
Cameron | viola on "Tick Tock 3 O'Clock", "What Becomes of
the Clock", and "Felicity's Surprise"
- Justine
Foy | cello on "Tick Tock 3 O'Clock", "What Becomes of the
Clock", and "Felicity's Surprise"
- Eddie
Vedder | vocals on "Felicity's Surprise" (credited as "Wes
C. Addle")
- Kim
Thayil | additional guitar on "C, Myself and Eye" and "The
Scroll"
- Ben
Shepherd | bass guitar on "Keppy's Lament"
- Gregg
Keplinger | additional drums on "Keppy's Lament"
- Bill
Cameron – photography
- Gary
Arnett | layout design
- Ed
Brooks | mastering
- Adam
Kasper | mixing
Review
:
Formed from the ashes of 2 seminal Gen-X 90s heavyweights being Soundgarden and Monster Magnet, The former cutting its teeth in the late 80s early 90s Grunge/Alternative Rock revolution which spawned a global phenomenon with Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, flipping Rock and Pop music on its head over night.
Formed from the ashes of 2 seminal Gen-X 90s heavyweights being Soundgarden and Monster Magnet, The former cutting its teeth in the late 80s early 90s Grunge/Alternative Rock revolution which spawned a global phenomenon with Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, flipping Rock and Pop music on its head over night.
Soundgarden
were one of the first bands to be signed to the Seattle indie label Sub Pop but
were the last band to find commercial success.
Over the east side of the US during the same period a band making noise
around the New Jersey area were Monster Magnet, now proclaimed as one of the
pioneers of Stoner Rock, the difference between the 2 scenes was politics. Seattle was a hot bed for social change where
New Jersey was full of drug taking burn outs, and this transcended through the
bands' music, although sonically speaking both scene's relied on Punk Rock
attitude mixed with early 70s riff laden grooves.
Soundgarden
decided to call it a day in 1997, leaving drummer Matt Cameron to focus on
other projects he had been dabbling with since the early 1990's, particularly a
project called Hater, which featured Cameron himself, Soundgarden bass master
Ben Shepherd and recently departed Monster Magnet departed guitarist John Mcbain
(Mcbain bailed out on the band during a tour in 92'). Hater would be the catalyst for Wellwater
Conspiracy formed by Cameron, Mcbain and Shepherd around the mid 90s
The
bands sound generally took from mid-late 60s Garage Rock/Psych nuts like the
13th Floor Elevators, The Sonics and Syd-era Pink Floyd. The band released 2 albums in the late 90s,
being 1997's "Declaration of Conformity" and the 1999 release
"Brotherhood of Electric". Ben
Shepherd had bailed out of the band after the first album which led to Matt
Cameron handling lead vocal duties, the band showcased their love of 60s acid
tinged garage rock on both albums which pre-dated the garage rock revival of the
early 2000s by a few years. It’s really
important to note that Cameron and Mcbain were also involved in another new
project at around this time, which featured Wellwater Conspiracy collaborate
and former Kyuss Guitarist Josh Homme. This
project was called Queens of the Stone Age,
which also saw a revolving door of musicians and collaborators like Wellwater
Conspiracy.
Cameron
and Mcbain were there right from the start, with Cameron playing Drums on their
first demo and Mcbain co-writing the Queens
classic "Regular John". Both
Mcbain and Cameron played the first ever QOTSA show in December 97 at the Ok
Hotel, But Cameron and Mcbain decided to stay focused on WWC for now. Wellwater entered the studio in late 2000 to
record their 3rd album "The Scroll and Its Combinations" for TVT
Records.
Produced
by the band themselves, the album kicks of with "Tidepool Telegraph” with
sweet guitar lines from Mcbain that then descends into a sinister Ron Asheton
style guitar riff with Cameron joining in with a steady rock beat, vocals are
courtesy of Derek Burns who is the first collaborator on the record, with Byrds
esque guitar flourishes and Detroit style muscle this kicks of the album in
pure Wellwater fashion. The next track is a cover of Q65's "I Got
Nightmares". Matt Cameron gets the
ball rolling with a classic 60s floor tom Rockabilly beat, with Mcbain rolling
in with slashing power chords and Cameron's clean tripped out vocals, this song
showcases the bands influences, with stop start odd time signatures during the
chorus and weird sinister laughs coming from Cameron. This is a sure sign the band does not take
themselves to serious when it come to all out rocking!
"C,
Myself and Eye" penned by Cameron is the closest WWC came to sounding like
one of their previous bands, in this case Soundgarden. The song starts with a lumbering melodic
guitar riff backed by mellotron keyboard, and a soft ultra melodic vocal from
Cameron, the track is ruled by a weird as hell off beat time signature that any
Prog Rocker would be proud of. After a flourish of verses and chorus the band
hit middle eight Riff that Tony Iommi would be proud of....kinda sound like if
Black Sabbath plugged into Credence Clearwater's Amp rig. There is also a guest appearance from former
Soundgarden Guitarist Kim Thayil adding some lush guitar parts.
"Tick
Tock 3 O'clock" is probably one of the albums more bizarre tracks, with a
host of guest appearances with Sax and cello and Derrick Burns providing vocals
with Paul Burback. It’s a happy go lucky
off beat jangly waltz, with lyrics about god knows what! It is WWC at their most
playful. Next up is "What Becomes
of the Clock” which is a dark off shot of "Tick Tock" It has that
early Pink Floyd bizarre-ness wrapped up with a dark Middle Eastern feel with
Gerry Amandes providing tremolo vox. This
track resembles Mcbain's Monster Magnet Spine of God era song writing with less
Distortion.
Track
6 is "Felicity's Surprise" with guest vocals from "Wes C.
Addle" real name Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam man lends his vocal and
writing talents to this Byrds inspired ditty and is one of the albums stand out
tracks. Next is the best song on the album
“Now, Invisibly” penned by Cameron. The
song opens with a bombastic sinister fuzz riff that falls into a melodic power
chord progression with Cameron’s soft vocals providing a sublime melody, Mcbain
anchors the song with his signature spidery fuzz guitar lines. With a chant chorus the band returns right
back to the start, with that sinister riff to be shut down by driving straight
into a wall.
Track
8 is "Of Dreams” written by Steve Morgan, a track which resembles The Who,
especially with Cameroons vocal phrasing sounding like Roger Daltrey. "Brotherhood of Electric" is
instrumental, and swirls around with a restless beat and Mcbain’s most
experimental moment with his signature fuzz guitar lines giving this Lo-Fi
album its ongoing bizarre credentials
"The
Scroll” is another bizarre ditty written by Mcbain and Cameron. Mcbain provides us with that Middle Eastern
guitar rock and Cameron’s laid back vocals, accompanied by a backing vocal that
has been sped up and sounds like Alvin & The Chipmunks, which again shows
Wellwater Conspiracy's playfulness. The
last song is the noise ridden "Keppy's Lament" with guitar, organ and
drum noises showering this last song in true weird WWC style.
Wellwater Conspiracy released one more album after this which was a lot more polished than its predecessors and lacking in that wacked out WWC vibe but it had its moments. They also made a national TV appearance on the David Letterman show in 2003,
so the question remains.....Why wasn't WWC a big band??
Wellwater Conspiracy released one more album after this which was a lot more polished than its predecessors and lacking in that wacked out WWC vibe but it had its moments. They also made a national TV appearance on the David Letterman show in 2003,
so the question remains.....Why wasn't WWC a big band??
Maybe
because it was always seen as a side project by its party's involved, by the
time WWC's second album was released Matt Cameron was a full time member of
Pearl Jam, so being in one of the biggest bands in the world and finding time
to be a full time member of another band is a tough gig. Nonetheless, during the time period when WWC
were making albums, they were offering another side to the so called Stoner
Rock genre that didn't have to be all about down tuned guitars and songs about
muscle cars and weed, they proved you can lighten up and still rock hard and be
super creative in the process. Perhaps that’s
why they were a little over looked, not just by the mainstream, but by the
genre of music they were supposedly born into.
Josh
Homme once told an interviewer the reasons why he didn't like the term stoner
Rock, was because it was too restricted, he said it excluded bands like
Wellwater Conspiracy even though they held the same ideals as bands like QOTSA,
Monster Magnet, Acid King and High On Fire.
In many ways WWC can be seen as a predecessor to QOTSA, maybe Homme got
the idea of guest musicians playing and swapping instruments from WWC, after
all, Cameron and Mcbain helped QOTSA get of off the ground back in the late
1990's.
It is doubtful WWC will be making any new records in the near future with Matt Cameron reunited with Soundgarden and still the full time drum master for Pearl
This is a classic for the so called Stoner/psych genre that has been overlooked, it shows another side to a genre that can step off the gas and indulge in the more bizarre aspects of its kind, without having to worry about the more aggressive nature of the genres mainstays.
With
the Stoner/psych/doom movement in fever pitch in the underground at the moment,
this album will be a different pill to swallow.....Even though it’s from the
same batch!
Words and recommendation by : David Michael Oglesby
Words and recommendation by : David Michael Oglesby
Album Details :
The Scroll and Its Combinations is the third
album by Wellwater Conspiracy. It was released on May 22, 2001, through TVT Records. This was a CD only release.
“The
Scroll and Its Combinations” track list
1). Tidepool
Telegraph 05:01
2). I Got
Nightmares 02:17
3). C Myself
And Eye 04:04
4). Tick Tock
3 O'clock 01:46
5). What
Becomes Of The Clock 04:08
6). Felicity's
Surprise 03:42
7). Now,
Invisibly 02:38
8). Of Dreams
03:36
9). Brotherhood
Of Electric 03:32
10). The
Scroll 03:43
11). Keppy's
Lament 02:36
