Brant Bjork is one of those musicians whose understated brilliance one can imagine Lester Bangs endlessly praising in an obtuse and meandering essay (were Bangs not twenty-five years dead). Bjork's music is of the sort that inspires and requires uncompromising loyalty from his devotees and to those not indoctrinated, may seem easily dismissed.
Read a bio of Brant Bjork and you will most likely encounter a roster of “desert” or “stoner” bands that he once graced with his presence behind the skins: Kyuss, Fu Manchu. But the remarkable thing about Bjork’s solo material is the absence of the heaviness generally associated with the apocryphal desert rock label (or stigma, depending on who you are talking to). Mr. Bjork has made a career out of breaking stock stoner-rock character into something of a slacker funk enigma ever since his first solo album Jalamanta surprised and befuddled fans of the aforementioned stoner schtick.
Hailing from Palm Desert, CA, Bjork’s music has the effect of either reflecting or echoing the harsh desert environment. The desert is a way of life and Bjork’s music is a would-be soundtrack. His solo output has been nothing short of prolific. Alternating between just his name and the appendages “And the Operators” or “And the Bros.”, Bjork has released seven albums in eight years in addition to touring and recording with other bands and collaborating with filmmaker Kate McCabe on an experimental desert film, Sabbia. Bjork is a busy man.
As a result, one deduces that Bjork is a dedicated and uncompromising talent, which leads us to Brant Bjork and the Bros’ latest Duna Records release, Somera Sol. Bjork’s music has always walked a flirty line between rock, soul and a vague jazzy otherness, and Somera Sol is no exception to this dynamic. One could criticize him for being repetitive or one could praise him for being consistent. Either way, the overall feeling of this album is similar to that of The Bros. 2005 release Saved By Magic – a double album ripe with lots of good ideas and moments of brilliance, but no real stand-out tracks.
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