High Mountain Stoner Rock Returns in Denver Power Trio Luna Sol

From rock's first supergroup, Cream, to grunge pioneer Nirvana and the pop-punk masters in Green Day, the power-rock trio is an undeniable musical force, scaled down to a simple equation of guitar, bass and drums, all amped up for maximum sonic effect. And that tradition is maintained by Denver trio Luna Sol, which comprises Dave Angstrom (guitar and vocals), Doug Tackett (bass) and Zeth Pedulla (drums). Hear for yourself when the band drops its latest album, Vita Mors, with a release show at Bar 404 on Friday, September 20.

Vita Mors showcases the band's "high mountain stoner rock," as Angstrom puts it, and it's the band's first record to include Tackett and Pedulla, musician friends he'd known from their work in the band Horse. "Stoner rock is a big genre of heavy rock," Angstrom says, "but I added the 'high mountain.'" 
The new LP marks an evolution for Luna Sol, which Angstrom has fronted since moving to the high country from his native Kentucky in 2012. “I grew up with Kentucky blues and bluegrass,” Angstrom explains, “and I wanted to get back to the feeling I had as a kid, listening to the heavy, blues-based rock of Cream, Cactus and Zeppelin.” He reached out to Pedulla, the first drummer he jammed with after moving to Colorado, and Tackett, a friend whose bass chops he’d admired for years. As soon as they started playing together, Angstrom says, “it was that feeling I’d been looking for.”

Following the initial jam sessions, Pedulla and Tackett convinced Angstrom to keep Luna Sol a three-piece; while the band had auditioned singers, no one could match his deep guttural growl. “My intent wasn’t to be a power trio," Angstrom admits. "I wanted to be Cream, but didn’t want to sing.” But the three musicians hit a groove just playing for themselves. Angstrom recalls Greg Martin from Kentucky Headhunters telling him, “The best players are on the front porch” — in this case, the practice room.

“A lot of this is going back to Dave’s roots,” Tackett explains, “but it’s also where he’s always meant to go. We’re connecting with people because of the honesty and truth. The songs came together so effortlessly because we have the ability to communicate on a musical level. When the three of us get together, we’re just having fun.”
Tackett’s bass lines are prominent on Vita Mors because in a trio, there is no place to hide. “It’s just a killer groove,” he notes. “I’ve never been in a two-guitar band where bass is simply background — I just hope the bass expands on Dave’s riffs. With Zeth’s punk background and Dave and I rooted in metal and blues, all egos are set aside, and we trust each other. I love everything they’re doing, and I get excited listening to them.”

“Friendship comes first,” adds Pedulla, “and I know 'magical' is overused, but seriously, in five minutes we have a killer bass line, a riff coming out of thin air, and we’re just letting go and being free as musicians.” Like the best power trios, the members don't overshadow each other with busy sounds, fills and runs. “I just want to be in the pocket,” Pedulla explains, keeping his drumming versatile. "That’s why it sounds so good."

Luna Sol has been rolling out singles to tease the entire release, dropping “Low ’n Easy” in June, “Evil (Is on the Rise)” in July, and “Head in a Hole” in August. Rich both sonically and lyrically, Vita Mors has emotionally heavy songs such as “Bottom,” dealing with mortality and loss, as well as smooth grooves like “No Substitution,” about Angstrom simply waiting for his wife after work to have a drink on the deck. Lyrics come from trust and friendship, and they can be vulnerable. “I used to be tricky and crafty when I was younger, and now I’m older and just don’t give a fuck," Angstrom says, adding that he wants to “blend that punch-in-the-gut honesty with a little bit of Southern folklore, and how to do that without losing myself.”
An album called Vita Mors (life and death) from a band called Luna Sol (moon and sun) is nothing but a comprehensive picture of existence. “I always loved opposites,” Angstrom notes. “Yin and yang, negative and positive...as humans we struggle to find balance.” The whole project is dealing with a sense of personal loss, concepts of life and death.

“It's an extremely emotional and heavy time of life,” Angstrom observes. “Oddly enough, I have grandchildren, and my dad just passed, and that's a weird time of life, in your fifties, but you still wanna rock.”

And Bar 404 is the perfect place to release Luna Sol's latest work. As Angstorm says, “The real music is in the dive bars."

Luna Sol, 7 p.m. Friday, September 20, Bar 404, 404 Broadway. Tickets are $12.51.