The Day The Pirate Retired

Che: tough guy effect ruined by grin.Regular readers will no doubt roll their eyes at the inclusion in Song o' the Week of yet another band featuring ex-Kyuss members. To them I say 'Arrrr!' and ask them to take a listen to The Day The Pirate Retired, performed by Brant Bjork's excellent band Che.

While guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Nick Oliveri went on to form heavy rock bands after the split of Kyuss, one-time drummer Brant Bjork concentrated on recording more chilled out blues with his bands The Operators and The Bros.

Before the solo albums, though, back in 2000, Bjork picked up his guitar and formed Che featuring another ex-Kyuss drummer, Alfredo Hernandez, and Unida member Dave Dinsmore on bass.

Che recorded one album, The Sounds of Liberation on Man's Ruin before disbanding. The first few songs are undoubtedly stoner, but then it drops back a gear into a more conventional rock album.

This final track is a must-listen for fans of tone. I know next to nothing about guitars, but I would hazard a guess that the clear-throated rhythm guitar on this instrumental song is a Fender Stratocaster. So I checked, and this is what wikipedia had to say:

'Normally Brant Bjork plays a Fender Stratocaster (Sunburst, post CBS, small headstock) through a Marshall Plexi (also known as Superlead) 100 Watt Amplifier.

'However, the Sunburst was smashed at a recent (July 2005) Italian gig, so now he's been seen using a white Fender Stratocaster (with a Muhammed Ali picture near the jack).

'On July 19th 2006 in Exeter, Brant was using a sunburst Stratocaster with a Squier neck and a sticker of the Virgin Mary by the bridge pickup. This went into a fuzz, then a wah, then a Boss Blues Driver, with the Marshall Plexi and a Marshall 410 cabinet.'

In any case, this song rollicks along with a wooden leg and parrot on its shoulder.

I especially like the drumming, Hernandez is an excellent musician.

A great closer to a solid album.