Massive Grooves + 1

Longtime King's X vocalist/bassist Doug Pinnick steps into the spotlight via his very first solo project, Poundhound. Whereas his fellow bandmember Ty Tabor's solo album (Moonflower Lane) is more about sunny melodicism and songcraft a la the Beatles, Pinnick's album Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music is a "darker" affair that stresses the importance of the almighty groove. Pinnick has always been one of the most groove-heavy bassists of rock, no doubt due to the use of a 12-string bass and an influence from funk music. While King's X-like vocal melodies do crop up on the tracks "Soul" and "Love," other songs like "Shake," "Music," and "Darker" are more straightforward, hitting you on a gut level. Massive Grooves deals with the not always pleasant topics of alienation, loss, and regret; "Friends" discusses several of Pinnick's real-life "friends," one who "cuts himself to numb the pain," another who is "going to die in jail," and a third who witnessed his father murder his mother as a youngster. But by album's end, Pinnick has resolved some of his issues, as evidenced by the soothing, subtle gospel sounds of "River." ~ [The CD was also released with a bonus track.] Greg Prato