Complete studio albums (and more!), part 11

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POUNDHOUND – Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music (1998 Metal Blade)

You have to give Doug Pinnick credit for many things, and one of them is his prolific musical output.  The same year as King’s X Tape Head album, Doug released this solo project under the band name PoundHound.   Massive Grooves (the shortened title) featured Doug playing all instruments except drums.  His King’s X bandmate Jerry Gaskill, and Shannon Larkin of Ugly Kid Joe helped out in the percussion department.  The result isn’t that dissimilar from Tape Head itself.  As the title suggests, these are indeed massive grooves.

The Reverend Hershall Happiness is your host for this heavy celebration.  “Jangle”, the opening song, isn’t that much different from the groovy side of King’s X at all, and just listen to that bass!  Doug lets it ring low, and boy oh boy does it sound good.  “Jangle” is as catchy as it is groovy.  “Shake” puts the emphasis strictly on groove.  “Everybody, shake your thing,” sings the Reverend.  It probably surprises nobody that Doug is a good enough guitar player to nail some cool solos too.  Is there anything he can’t do?  (Just the drums, apparently!)

The songs are mostly short and to the point.  Don’t expect the progressive metal of King’s X.  Do not think you’re getting simply good time party groovers either.  A great song called “Friends” for example is pretty blunt.  “Kevin is a razorhead, he says the cutting numbs the pain.”  Just like King’s X, Doug is not afraid to paint a stark picture of some parts of real life that we often want to bury.  “My world just got darker,” he sings on “Darker”.  If you were expecting an entire album of good times, this is not it.  But good rock and roll?  Absolutely.   The direction is more or less the same from track to track.  It’s heavy groove based rock with the best soul singer in metal.  The variety that you get from King’s X (and their multiple singers) is not present here, but if you like Doug then you will love PoundHound.

Doug’s bass and guitar sound amazing (you will rarely hear such a full bass sound), but the drums are fairly dry and a little thin (compared to the last few King’s X discs).  This does not hamper enjoyment of the disc.  The songs and sound are consistent enough.

Best tracks:  “Jangle”, “Shake”, “PsychoLove”, “Friends”, “Hey”.  Only semi-stinker in the bunch:  “Supersalad” (too much grungy grunting vocalizing).

Doug released a second album as PoundHound, before shortening his name to Dug and putting out proper solo albums under his own name.  For all intents and purposes though, Massive Grooves is the first Doug Pinnick solo album and a damn good one it is.

3.5/5 stars

Part 1 – Out of the Silent Planet (1988)
Part 2 – Gretchen Goes to Nebraska (1989)
Part 3 – Kings of the Absurd (split bootleg with Faith No More)
Part 4 – Faith Hope Love by King’s X (1990)
Part 5 – “Junior’s Gone Wild” (from 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey soundtrack)
Part 6 – King’s X (1992)
Part 7 – Dogman (1994) + bonus “Pillow” promo single review
Part 8 – Ear Candy (1996)
Part 9 – Best of King’s X (1997)
Part 10 – Tape Head (1998)