Fans of hazy, smoked-out sludge will appreciate Toke and Green Fiend, two weed-obsessed North Carolina bands that reference their favorite vice so often you can practically get a contact high just from listening to them. Both bands self-released fine albums in the fall of 2015, but you can get a quick hit of what they’re all about on their upcoming split release, the Cough-inspired Ritual Substance Abuse, Two songs from the release are available on their respective Bandcamp pages.
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Green Fiend from Charlotte (home of Antiseen, Young & In the Way and many more) covers the old J.J. Cale chestnut “Cocaine,” which is best known via Eric Clapton’s loose, bluesy version. But Green Fiend covers it in a much more appropriate manner, with vocalist Taddeo sounding like he’s been doing coke non-stop for days and is now on the verge of murdering someone.
Toke hails from Wilmington, the port city that also spawned Weedeater and Sourvein. Their contribution to the single is “Four Hours For Hours,” which begins with the sound of a bong being hit, and spirals into a syrupy, bluesy dirge, with some seriously corroded vocals.
[Note: Both Toke's contributions to the split are now exclusively available on their new full-length (Orange), which Karen reviews here]