I didn’t know much about the 1980s wacked-out psych punk band called Monster Magnet until I got wind of a re-release. Test Patterns: Vol.1 features their seminal 24-minute track “Tab,” released in 1989 on their demo Forget About Life, I’m High On Dope, plus a 2021 remix version by OG band member John McBain. Test Patterns: Vol.1 comes out on November 11th via God Unknown Records — you can pre-order it here. Today we’re stoked to be sharing a preview of this dark trip of a record that they describe as “The Stooges terrorizing Hawkwind at the most unpleasant free festival imaginable.” This is a short clip but its already got me mesmerized! I can imagine the full experience is nothing short of a disorienting and devious sonic rollercoaster!
Julian Cope described the original release as distilling Hawkwind, Sabbath and The Stooges into a lysergic soup of brown acid and bathtub meth, and ultimately cultivating a “Altamont vibe”; that is, the negative end of the psychedelic spectrum.
