I’ve been aware of American stoner grunge merchants Lo-Pan for a while now without really ever getting involved, but I’m definitely going to re-investigate their past a bit more closely after living with their new album, Get Well Soon, for a few spins.

The album offers with a grand opening gambit in the form of The Good Fight, a hulking stadium grunge riffer that grabs ahold o’the ears and doesn’t let go for it’s four minute duration. Ozymandias is a heavy highlight, unfurling some super-heavy riffage in tandem with powerful vocals that you can imagine would go down very well across the stadiums of America. This is grandiose, expansive music in the best senses of those words, huge without ever becoming bloated thanks to the taut, economic musicianship and the band’s refusal to let self indulgence become a part of the equation.

Stay With The Boat has a spacey, somehow more optimistic feel with the band adding an airiness to the mix that’s absent elsewhere; that’s not to say that the track lacks punch, but it does somehow stand out from the more unforgiving, dense riffage to be found elsewhere.

Standout track Harpers Ferry is Lo-Pan at their most progressive, weaving a tale around the doomed West Virginian Town (virtually destroyed during the American Civil War and the scene of John Brown‘s abortive attempt to start a slave revolt) that’s as weighty and interesting as it’s subject matter deserves; I went away and read up on the town after listening to the track, and I’m glad if that was the band’s intention – they certainly inspired me to look a little deeper into some of my country’s history.

Jeff Martin‘s raw, honesty-packed vocals really standout, rising above what is sometimes a general-issue stoner/grunge racket with simple majesty, and elevating the standout material to classic status whilst never coming across as hammy or bombastic.

Lo-Pan have certainly made a fan of this reviewer with Get Well Soon, and if you’ve never heard them before or, like me have been slightly put off by the stoner/grunge tags, then I think a pleasant surprise awaits if you give this record a chance – which it fully deserves!

Get Well Soon Releases on April 4th.