A band whose brief seven-year existence has enabled them to remain enigmatic and shrouded in hazy folklore, Kyuss were a classic example of musicians who assimilated the ambience and vibe of their surroundings and spewed it back out as something genuinely but unintentionally original and groundbreaking.
Formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1988, first as Katzenjammer and then Sons Of Kyuss, they were inspired by everything from punk to Black Sabbath, eventually settling on a sound that could hardly have better suited their sun-ravaged, sand-blasted environment. Their evolution has been repeatedly mythologised since their split in 1995, but Kyuss really did develop their chops by taking a petrol-powered generator out into the desert and throwing rock’n’roll keg parties for their slacker buddies and anyone else who showed the slightest interest in their thunderous, freewheeling take on heavy music.
