Sucks Hawks, Such Hounds. Such Horrible Production Value.

Before my crazy, accidental viewing of SUCH HAWKS, SUCH HOUNDS I had no idea that anything called Doom Rock, Desert Rock, and Stoner Rock existed.  The music sounds like, actually doom, desert and stoner, melted down, with a lot of heavy bass, monk robes and cascading hair for flavor.  This doc is not and should not be the definitive feature on the underground heavy rock scene.  It is completely (but kind of lovingly) amateur, and rife with way too long music sequences, cheesy graphics and lighting best described as Cheez Whizian.  

The thing that comes across so clearly, and judging by the beer belching enthusiasm from the audience, satisfyingly, is the passion of the depicted musicians for their music and their independence.  In a world where nearly every genre and sub genre of music has mainstreamed, the desert rock scene remains wonderfully underground.  The majority of the big names testified to the less than star like status of their day jobs.  Housepainter, flower delivery man, prep-cook, these are the occupations of an artist keepin it real.  

I would be interested to see a more focused film, possibly on one of the more engaging bands such as Pentagram.  An analysis of vocalist Bobby Liebling’s hair alone could sustain a ninety minute film.  Also worth further dissection is Sleep, creator of the seminole, 52 (post-editing!) minute track ‘Dopesmoker.’ This is the song that begat the terms Weedian and Hashishian and I could not be more grateful for their efforts.  It is Awesome.