(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

After leaving Monster Magnet, guitarist John McBain formed Hater, with a rhythm section borrowed from Soundgarden (Matt Cameron on drums and Ben Shepherd on bass) and the help of Brian Wood (singer of the Fire Ants). The sound of Hater (A&M, 1993) is an unexpected revival of the 1960s and 1970s, with nods to Troggs (Tot Finder) and T. Rex (Putrid), and a general “retro” exuberance (Circles). The best track on the album is the psychedelic guitar jam Sad McBain, which anticipated solutions of the Wellwater Conspiracy.

What at the time seemed only a peripheral episode proved in reality to be the beginning of a new career. Two of the songs recorded for that album, Sleeveless and You Do You, were so different from the others that McBain decided to set them aside. faithful to the most creative sound of the 1960s, with weak and scratchy little guitars and a driving but constantly mutating rhythm, worthy of Yardbirds and Troggs. Those songs became the first single of Wellwater Conspiracy, Sleeveless/ You Do You (Super Electro Sound, 1993), which would later be Hater (same lineup, different name).

After two more singles, one with Trowerchord (a melodic and distorted song in the tradition of Texan psychedelia), Enebrio (archetype of all their instrumental numbers) and Green Undertow (Super Electro Sound, 1994), and the other with two covers of Japanese 1960s bands, McBain decided to collect (almost) all the material on an album, Declaration Of Conformity (Third Gear, 1997), adding a couple of last-minute unreleased tracks.
Perhaps also because of its episodic nature, the album is a melting pot of garage rock, acid rock and British beat with little to give it cohesion. The songs are therefore rather uneven (the most melodic ones are all covers).
Instead, the album is enriched by numerous instrumental tracks, in which the fusion of styles is perhaps best realized: Shel Talmy, The Far Side Of Your Moon and Declaration Of Conformity. Not only are the instrumental arrangements more compact and innovative, but the combustion is also more “grunge” (in a pre-grunge sense). Space Travel In The Blink Of An Eye pushes to the limits of Jefferson Airplane-style jams with a surrealist spirit that makes it the sonic equivalent of a painting by Salvador Dalí.
Whether due to ineptitude or respect for the classics, McBain’s guitar sounds thin and antiquated from beginning to end. The rhythm section, on the other hand, is perfectly in step with the times. McBain’s voice is the weak point of the album. Without the songs, this would be an excellent instrumental rock record in the style of Man or Astro-man?. Instead, this is just another “Sixties revival” album, perhaps arriving about ten years too late. The Lyres (to name one) did this better.
McBain argues that this is the natural link with the early days of Monster Magnet, indeed with his prehistoric bands Dog Of Mystery and The Smoking Pets, with the Lizard Johnny that Monster Magnet recorded when they were still called Airport 75 (Tim Cronin at the vocals, Dave Wyndorf on guitar and McBain on bass) and which ended up on the first Monster Magnet record.

If nothing else, Wellwater Conspiracy (Transdreamer, 2003) is not pretentious. But it is a dreadful mix of the same, old psychedelic garage-rock and a new electronic sound with drum machines that doesn't add up to anything (Rebirth).