Wellwater Conspiracy: The Scroll And Its Combinations : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The thing about a conspiracy is you never really quite know who's behind it, lurking in the shadows and pulling the proverbial strings. The Wellwater Conspiracy certainly holds true to maintaining the mystery, although the duo of Matt Cameron and John McBain are getting progressively worse at keeping their secret safe. (Yes, that's ex-Soundgardener Matt Cameron and John "Monster Magnet" McBain). The Scroll and Its Combinations is a sprawling survey of scruffy styles pillaged from the dusty grooves of the duo's record collections and given body by, well, a conspiracy of folks ranging from relatives to rock stars (a certain Eddie Vedder makes a cameo vocal appearance as Wes C. Addie on the radio-ready track "Felicity's Surprise"). Wellwater Conspiracy may have musical signifiers that'll make classic rock fans and obscurist record geeks all comfy cozy, but amid all the fuzz and minor chord bombast is an edgy, hard-rock post-millenial tension. The Wellwater Conspiracy carries the torch for rock & roll from Diddley-beat, Sixties pop to burned-out, road-weary stoner rock. As evidenced on the one-two punch of the multi-layered psych-pop workout "Tick Tock 3 o'Clock" and the swirling, subdued "What Becomes of the Clock," these gents have an eye on the big picture history of rock and the ability to monkey with its cultural associations. The secret's no longer safe with us. (CHRIS HANDYSIDE - May 21, 2001)