What if Charles Manson, the musician and infamous serial killer, Black Sabbath and Neil Young created a band? Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats would have been the result. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats is a five-man stoner rock band with high-pitched vocals and guitars that sound like they are being played on an old failing radio. Their lyrics further add to the overall sense of cult-fueled mayhem. The topics of the band’s songs range from motorcycle gangs to mind control, drugs, sex and murder. Their most recent album, Mind Control (2013), carries many of these same themes.

The album does a really good job of creating an overall emotion with a guitar riff. The song “Death Valley Blues” is a shining example of these riffs and the band’s message . The song is about a Manson cult follower who realizes that she is about to die. The song narrates this while playing a sad melody that is suddenly smashed downed by a wall of fuzz as well as with the commandment from an omnipotent voice to stop questioning the cult leader and to obey in a thunderous voice.

Another song that really stands out is the most pop oriented tune of the album. “Mind Crawler” is the most radio friendly track and the most powerful on this jaded album. The song is mainly centered around a cult leader who has killed and is running away on a motorcycle through Death Valley.

Mind Control really does not have any flaws. All of the songs sound like they should be where they are placed. The instrumentals and production are really good and the album breaks up the stoner rock sound with little sections of 70’s Beatles pop rock. It embodies the chaos that was the sixties, discussing topics like Jonestown, Charles Manson and racial violence, which are often overlooked when someone brings up that era. If you are a fan of classic rock, then this album is worth a listen.