Wrestlin' with My Lady Friend – Suplecs

Most of the stoner rock bands that started recording in the '90s were major Black Sabbath worshippers, and Suplecs is no exception. From "Dope Fu" to "Stalker" to "Road to Nowhere," Suplecs' debut album, Wrestlin' With My Lady Friend, is full of slow, fuzzed-out electric guitar riffs that bring to mind Tony Iommi's work with Sabbath. Nonetheless, Suplecs is one of the more original bands to come out of the stoner rock genre. Singer/guitarist Durel Yates, singer/bassist Danny Nick, and drummer Andrew Preen -- collectively Suplecs -- are from New Orleans, and their Louisiana background shows. That's a good thing because it sets the power trio apart from the many Sabbath-minded stoner bands that hail from England, Northern California, and other hotbeds of genre activity. Although singing dominates the CD, Wrestlin' With My Lady Friend also contains some occasional rapping. But Suplecs' rapping doesn't have a real hip-hop outlook. While Limp Bizkit, Korn, Rage Against the Machine and other rap-metallers who emerged in the later '90s have a real hip-hop sensibility, Suplecs come across as a group of southern headbangers who enjoy rapping to metal riffs from time to time. A promising debut, Wrestlin' With My Lady Friend is enthusiastically recommended to anyone who is seeking something fresh-sounding from stoner rock. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide