THE METALFORGE.COM
MAY 2005
Score: 8/10

WINTERUN-THE FULL EFFECT
Putting Aussie stoner rock on the map

Australia isn’t really well represented in the stoner rock genre. That potentially could change if bands such as Motormoth, Forte and Melbourne’s Winterun have anything to say about it. The four guys in Winterun proudly wear their stoner rock hearts on their sleeves and they do so with a bucketload of pride as well. With their independently released debut album The Full Effect, they are doing their bit to put the land down under on world map of stoner rock.

If you are expecting pure 100% stoner rock from these guys, then think again. There’s anything from Kyuss to Pearl Jam and distinct vocals that cross a fine line between Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Glenn Danzig at times. Hell I’d go so far to say there’s even a touch of Detroit rock a-la The Stooges and our own Radio Birdman and The New Christs in there to a small degree. It sounds like an unusual cocktail but give it some time and you’ll find as I did that it’s not as unusual as you might think.

The rhythmic laced drum intro and scooped sounding guitars straight away suggest that this is not your typical stoner album as the straight ahead verse of South Coast Shuffle rolls on through at quite an up tempo pace. Lighter’s funky intro becomes a cross between stoner and grunge (think early Mudhoney to a degree) with quite the catchy feel and chorus to boot that is sure to get some heads nodding. Things are slowed up a touch with The Healer in a very Pearl Jam-esque way before another hook laden ditty called Rola gets your head nodding once more.

N.O.C.D. mixes up the tempo in the space of its four and a half minutes before the ever-so-casual-jam-type-feel of Rhymna changes up the overall feel and mood just a little more. Long Grass Run is probably the most straight forward rock sounding track on here which is perhaps due to the fuller guitar tones and stricter four-four common time feel. Black Tar Garden quickly brings back the casual jam type feeling again. Weather brings back some more of that Pearl Jam vibe before Three cleanly moves along at a more casual pace to wrap things up.

Winterun’s The Full Effect is not a pure stoner album. Sure, the stoner influences are there but there’s also a touch of grunge and rock as well. That aside, what is most important is the song writing and musicianship. It might not have the commercial acceptance of Queens Of The Stone Age or the catchiness of the Foo Fighters. Who cares? It’s still good, no frills, catchy rock that offers up a healthy serving of originality with a small side order of obvious influences.

Reviewer: Simon Milburn

BEAT MAGAZINE
EARLY 2005

The four dudes in Winterun revel in their Stoner Rock. They love it, they play it and they make no bones about it. And good bloody on them too because their take on Stoner is great. As they say themselves, Winterun take as much from Kyuss as they do Parliament, Rory Gallagher or Smashing Pumpkins. For my ear they also lean heavily on early Pearl Jam as well, the Pearl Jam where Eddie Vedder wasn’t so self-conscious of his booming baritone.

Winterun play a style of music they happily call “unpretentious Southern Slam” which means nothing to me, but may to you Melburnians. There’s an element of prog-rock jamming, there’s an element of ’70s bombast and there’s some good old grunge as well. The full effect however, is that of a band still finding its identity.
That being said, the styles they are choosing to be influenced by are solid and their ability to take those styles and tweak them is to be praised. The enthusiasm with which they deliver such great tunes as Long Grass Run, N.O.C.D  and Rola wins you over.

Jeremy Sheaffe