STONE COAL WHITE by STONE COAL WHITE

The first offering from DJ Shadow's Cali-Tex imprint in over 3 1/2 years features Dayton, Ohio's Stone Coal White. Perhaps the most underground act in a scene that was already vastly subterranean, bassist Melvin Payne, guitarist Tommy Mundy, and drummer Joey "Lobo" Rodrick released their sound from the deepest chasm of the black experience. Channeling Vietnam nightmares, grass, LSD, unhinged sexuality, poverty, and violence, Stone Coal White created a spiritual sound that was uniquely their own. Check!Some will recognize 'You Know' from the black-psych mix bible Chains & Black Exhaust, but as the group's two 45s exist in single digit quantities, only a handful have heard the rest of this Ho Chi Min City-damaged oeuvre. Their two 45s have been bolstered with four previously unissued tracks found in the basement of a now-condemned motorcycle gang hideout. Along with never before seen photos, this vastly unheard slice of gritty, hazed-out Ohio psych rock finally gets it's due beyond the cranked out bikers it was originally intended for.