Band : G.U. Medicine
Album title : Lords Of Oblivion
Label : Undergroove Records
Distributor : PHD
Release date : 24/05/2010
Release : CD

Barnsley, Yorkshire based British Groove Rock quartet G.U. Medicine (current membership includes mainstays singer/ guitarist Lee Storrar, guitarist/ backing singer Dale G. Evans, bassist/ backing singer Ryan S. Senior, and new man & drummer Richard Murray) were founded in late 2003 (when the bassist just exited Hardcore act P’S’P), and soon after (early 2004) entered Axis Studios in Doncaster with Matt Ellis (previously having with the likes of Groop Dogdrill and Number One Son, to name but a few) to record the material which would later end up to be their self-titled debut album, issued (already) through the Undergroove Records label (word goes the label only heard three of the recordedd songs, and immediately sent word for more)! By the time of release the band had already 2 UK tours under their belts, during which shows in support of their future labelmates Johnny Truant, Drive Like You Stole It, Aped Bu Sapien and Lockjaw’s Aura Sun were performed.

The band’s music (a great combination of dirty & gritty Hard Rock with fringes of Stoner) caught on quickly enough, and soon saw the band on UK and European tours with the likes of The Wildhearts, Nick Oliveri and his Mondo Generator, My Ruin, Open Hand, Viking Skull, The Almighty, Left Side Brain and more (I’m not sure whether some of these bands don’t come in at a later date, though). Thanks to the rave reviews (both in the UK and elsewhere) the band was also invited for recording sessions for BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show (actually that one already happened befóre the album’s release) and Ian Camfield’s XFM show. Sophomore album Saints Of Excess, came in 2006, along with more critical acclaim and videos filmed for two of the album’s tracks, one of which won the “New Blood” competition on music channel Skuzz TV with no less than 48% of the viewers foting for it. In Nov. 2007 the band suffered its only line-up change, when orgininal drummer Pete Williams left due to “family commitments” (needed to spend time with his wife and kids - in March 2009 the shocking news came that he’d died at home after only a short illness).

With the new man installed on the drum stool, the band found the action from that end was suddenly of a higher level, and the guys started writing their material accordingly. For some odd reason (as mentioned in a blog on the band’s MySpace, “…the past couple of years have been strange to say the least for us…”) , the material enclosed in their 3rd album (this one) was already recorded in May of 2008 with producer Jason Sanderson (check albums by Errander, The Plight, Send More Paramedics, D-Rail and more, like Rolo Tomassi). Already in July 2008, the band already posted the track “Alcoholocaust” on their MySpace page as a teaser, and then… (nothing). The band still did a couple of shows now and again (take the end of June 2009), but it wasn’t until February of this year that they announced booking shows again in promotion of the album which would be issued later the same year. Well, “later” became now, or rather March 30…when the album was released in the UK.

And, quite frankly, the album was well worth waiting for (of course, I didn’t know it was coming but, hey, you get the idea, right?). The material is catchy as hell, with some songs sounding like AC/DC giving their sound a boast by infusing some heavy Stoner, and other being a bit less straight-forward, with an atmospheric touch to it like as if inspired by Led Zeppelin…with still that gritty and noisy Stoner touch to it! Of course, that’s just the music! Vocally the band taps from a different kind of keg (heh heh, talking of kegs, you better believe the pursuit of free booze was the prime reason for getting this band started), being of a whisky-drenched, smoked-through, dirty, gritty…get the point? The voices are hoarse, alright? I mean, okay, so the lead singer occasionally sings a bit more melodic, but otherwize all vocals have that sandpaper quality! If you can manage to get the music player at myspace.com/gumedicine1 do its job, you can listen to the new album’s opening and closing tracks (respectively “Pure Motorized Instinct” and “Hanging Out With The Waking Dead” – the latter the ónly track on the album with some horns in, by the way), plus a selection of tracks off the previous albums (6 tracks) and one from the BBC Radio 1 recording session. What you’ll find is good-time Rock ‘n’ Roll with a Groove thang to it, babe!

86/100

Tony.