Time Is Now!, The

ne of the more prolific British stoner rock acts, the Heads nonetheless find it hard to forego their bongs long enough to record an entire album's worth of material in a single sitting. Rather, their regular M.O. involves the recording of smaller, bite-sized 7" singles and EP's (usually on vinyl, naturally), some of which were compiled to create their second album The Time Is Now! Opener "Delwyn's Conkers" offers pretty standard stoner rock fare, but at a mere three minutes, it turns out to be the disc's most unusual track. It's all seven to nine minute jam explorations from here on out, ranging from the tripped-out space rock lilt and tribal drumming of "Snakepit" to the serious metal riffing of "Spliff Riff (Roached Out...)." Vocals of any kind are rare and purely incidental, serving only to introduce yet another drawn-out jam session. Even the album's absolute highlight "Legevan Satelite," which kicks off with one of the greatest psychedelic hard rock riffs ever concocted outside of late-'60s Detroit eventually resorts to extended, pulsing feedback, never to find its way back. (Tellingly, the band later realized they'd stumbled on a winner and reworked a shorter version of the track for their next album.) Simply put, if there's a stoner rock equivalent of the Grateful Dead, then the Heads may well be it. And unless your perception is somewhat chemically altered to begin with, little if anything contained here will make sense to you -- rather it'll probably bore you to tears. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia|