Unida - Coping with the Urban Coyote
Unida. Coping with the Urban Coyote. 1999. 4 stars.

Like their stoner metal cousins Queens of the Stone Age, Unida was formed out of the ashes of the mighty Kyuss, featuring the recognizable vocals of John Garcia and the sinewy bass lines of Scot Reeder. While these two powerhouses retain the same gargantuan force of their previous band, Unida is far more streamlined, bringing a straight up hard rock sound that does away with the wandering desert psychedelia of the past.

The material here is fast, catchy, and tight, delivering dense, heavy grooves and fiery guitar solos. Unida waste no time in hatching out their sound - its all about immediate gratification. This is not to say that Unida’s sole album is a shallow experinece, far from it. It just doesnt have the unique, drawn out passages that helped define Kyuss’ sound. Without the enourmous space to travel, Unida has a harder time crafting their own, distinct voice distinguishable from their lineage.

Even still, Coping with the Urban Coyote remains one of the most raw and shamelessly fun stoner rock albums out there. In fact I would go so far as to rank this higher than Kyuss’ earlier output (Wretch specifically). While it may not be another Welcome to Sky Valley, Coping with the Urban Coyote is worthy of the prestigious metal heritage. Queens of the Stone Age may have carried the post-Kyuss torch on to more prominent heights, Unida still clung to the scorched earth that was their family’s foundation - raw, pummeling riffage. Worth a second look.

Unida - live in Holland 1999.

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