ninehertz

Turn of the century, Greenleaf were a supergroup of the fledgling European stoner rock scene - genre royalty, featuring as they did members of Dozer, Lowrider and Demon Cleaner (at the time; there have been new members in the years since). Back then it definitely felt like a side band - odd looking back from a point where they're still active and very much the primary concern, releasing albums (still excellent, still at the forefront) every year or two.

Blues Funeral Recordings have thought it time to re-release their first two recordings from those early days, remastered and packaged together - the self titled EP of 2000 and the Revolution Rock album of a year later, and as a hard to find document of stoner rock at its height, it's hard to argue with that call. Sweden was the chief centre of our continent's reply to the traditional Californian base (although the Netherlands were close behind) and it has always seemed from afar that there was a close knit scene - Greenleaf's conglomeration of the leading light bands being the most precise example you could think of.

It's not one of the best stoner rock albums ever. It's not even the best Greenleaf album, not by a long shot. But it doesn't seem to matter - spending the time to listen to music from those hallowed years, from the time of the genre's peak, and from the source musicians, makes this a joyful experience.

There are nods to various stoner rock themes of those days, some I'd almost forgotten. Take the organ present on Devil Woman which inevitably brings to mind their countrymen in Spiritual Beggars. Or the slight punk tinge to Red Tab which recalls how there was a thin line between riotous acts like Gluecifer or The Dwarves and the Man's Ruin stoner roll call.

The songs from the EP - constituting the final six tracks here - are my favourite. Slightly rawer, they highlight more obviously how the band came to be, and what presumably stood them apart from their parent bands - a desire to hang out and create 70s inspired rock jams for their own entertainment (not too different a remit from stoner itself, if we're honest), but you can hear the spirit and fun in Sold My Lady (Out the Back of An Oldsmobile) and the Josiah-esque bluesy Smell the Green.

There is history in these songs, and the re-release serves to document a period of time, of great sounds by cool people. For those of us into the genre in those days, this will surely raise a smile and trigger a state of happiness as you reminisce about good times. And for those younger or new to the scene, its stands on its own as a joyful and pure stoner rock album.