Rubikon Bring the Desert Rock Fix You Need

Sometimes it’s important to step outside our little metal-encrusted box to experience other kinds of music that may not be as heavy, but are equally — if not more — rocking than our steady, everyday diet of Br00tal-O’s. So when it comes to Boston-based Rubikon, I’m just gonna put this right here for some relevant touchstones: their new album Delta was mixed by Alain Johannes, who has previously mixed records by Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures.

Guitar World just premiered a new Rubikon track called “Pretty Pretty” that really showcases the similarities to QOTSA: the song has gigantic, burly riffs that are both stony and dark, a hard-driving beat that’ll make you wish you were cranking through the southern California desert, and soulful, gruff vocals that come from a place deep within. There’s even a bit of Southern sludge when the band slows things down into the song’s coda; guitarist Dave Raymond name-checks Down and Corrosion of Conformity as influences, and you can definitely hear that in this track, too.

Delta comes out on August 21st and can be pre-ordered right here. Stream “Pretty Pretty” below.