auteur: Chris Dexters (Roadburn)
Candybar Planet, Hypnos 69 at Sojo, 11-03-00

Trying to keep pace with the constant flow of stoner/doom bands around the globe is tough. Too many bands get stuck in the bottleneck anddon't get the exposure they deserve. That's why it's always nice todiscover something that's literally been at your doorstep for sometime. You beat yourself over the head for such blatant ignorance, then take it in eagerly and treasure it...

Subject is power trio HYPNOS 69, a local band (ain't every band local in the stamp-sized monarchy that is Belgium?) with high potential.They gently sled into their set with the interstellar groove of the epic "Where All The Ends Unite", which sets their point straight: these guys haven't come to produce your average off-the-shelf-stonerrock. Shifting smoothly from subtle interludes to hi-octane powerchords and back, throwing in a generous dose ofimprovisation, these guys pull it all off. What I heard were spicy hot slices of seventies-induced heavy rock, vibrant spacerock extravaganza and all-round strong musicianship. "Seen The Sun" and "In The Wink Of An Eye", battling eachother over length, both clock in at around 10 minutes. Calling them merely songs, wouldn't do these spacetacular headtrips justice. They were playgrounds for the band to frolic around in, as the ample enthousiasm was obvious. With "Just a Little More" they made their way back to the mothership, leaving us in fiery blaze of distortion, and taking off into brighter galaxies. A close encounter of the first kind, indeed. Their first 10" EP is bound to hit earthly streets in April. Be sure to keep an eye on the Roadburn newspages...

CANDYBAR PLANET reside at the other end of the stoner spectrum. Being part of the Eindhoven Rock City scene, they rub shoulders with bands like 7Zuma7 and Peter Pan. Their energetic riff-based set was a balanced mix of songs from their "32 Bitch" debut and stuff from their upcoming 10" plus some other goodies. "Rock On", "Powder" and "RedRiver" are fat chunks of rock, raised on a steady diet of steroids (the kind used to floor a herd of mammoths). No sidestepping here, when Candybar Planet go into overdrive, they don't look back. They pay tribute to homeboys Peter Pan (twice, due to technical problems) and kick out some newbies: "Exposed", "Sun Screamer" and "Billy". Other than a brief earful of their album I wasn't really familiar with the band's music prior to this show, sowhat I heard sounded fresh and catchy, the only point of criticism could be the lack of variety. On stage the desert-ish feel of the album is replaced by a raw garage vibe not unlike the Hellacopters or Gluecifer. Apparently the three piece formula makes it easier to maintain a certain tightness in themusic, even when improvising. Before calling it quits, they return with "Helter Skelter", a fierce version of the Beatles classic.

This was the first episode in a number of "Stoner Sessions" to be held in and around Leuven, Belgium. Check this space for more reports on this great initiative.