Napalm Records is pleased to present the next chapter in psychedelic rock icons MONSTER MAGNET’s rabbit hole deep dive, A Better Dystopia (which is due out on May 21st, 2021): a delightfully (and psychotically) curated collection of 60’s and 70’s proto-metal and late-era psych obscurities covered by the heavy New Jersey legends themselves.
While the album marks a new frontier for MONSTER MAGNET as their first covers record, this is not your typical set of standards released to pass time. A Better Dystopia sees the band pay homage to some of their favorite songs of all time, while reflecting on the paranoia, dystopia and revolution of both now – and then.
Before A Better Dystopia drops this Friday, the band is giving you one more chance to check out a blistering cover version of a classic track. Check out the video for Dave Wyndorf’s take on “Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)” below.
Mastermind Dave Wyndorf on the track:
“I’m psyched to unleash our version of ‘Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)’. Table Scraps are a truly great band and prove again and again that garage punk fury lives!”
Dave Wyndorf says about the birth of“A Better Dystopia“:
“We all agreed that we would be bored out of our minds within a month of lockdown. MONSTER MAGNET loves the road. It’s a lifestyle. So, I considered our options. Rather than panhandle on the internet, hawking masks and Zoom-rocking practice sessions for dollars, I suggested we record a “bunker record”. A total DIY affair (band only) recorded and mixed in Bob Pantella’s small but potent Freak Shop Studios/rehearsal space right here in New Jersey. But what to record?
I didn’t feel much like writing, but working on anything was better than watching the news as hospitals filled up, people died, and American politics went bat-s**t crazy. The world roared “Dystopia! Apocalypse! Revolution!”. I’d heard those words before, and they brought to mind my childhood in the late 60’s/early 70’s… and the music… and short playlist of songs (just one of many) that I’d been carrying around with me on my whatever device to listen to before shows. Of course, these tunes have also been in my head for more or less my whole life. These were not the popular hits of the time. This was like a playlist from the 4th dimension… strange bits of musical obscurity, mostly dredged up from that inglorious and freaky “twilight zone” time that preceded Arena Rock, Heavy Metal, Reggae and Disco. A no-man’s land of hard rock that still had remnants of psychedelia and garage punk but had abandoned any notion of “flower power” or frat house fun. And of course, they rocked.
Yeah, these songs were it.”
While the album marks a new frontier for MONSTER MAGNET as their first covers record, this is not your typical set of standards released to pass time. A Better Dystopia sees the band pay homage to some of their favorite songs of all time, while reflecting on the paranoia, dystopia and revolution of both now – and then.
A Better Dystopia Tracklisting:
1. The Diamond Mine
2. Born to Go
3. Epitaph for a Head
4. Solid Gold Hell
5. Be Forewarned
6. Mr. Destroyer
7. When the Wolf Sits
8. Death
9. Situation
10. It’s Trash
11. Motorcycle (Straight to Hell)
12. Learning to Die
13. Welcome to the Void – Bonus Track
