Acid King Credit: Raymond Ahner

Disaffected teenagers hanging out at the forest preserve to smoke and solve the world’s problems couldn’t ask for a better soundtrack than 1999’s Busse Woods, the third album by San Francisco stoner-doom band Acid King. Guitarist and singer Lori S., the only constant member, founded the group in 1993 with drummer Joey Osborne and bassist Peter Lucas. Lori is a Chicagoland native, and Busse Woods is named for the forest preserve outside Elk Grove Village that served as her chamber of secrets during her rocker teen years. Acid King haven’t received the sort of crossover interest that other early stoner-rock bands have enjoyed over the past five years, but they’re one of the longest-running names in the genre and perfectly embody its primordial beginnings. Since 2017, Lori has been joined by bassist Rafa Martinez (of the formidable duo Black Cobra) and drummer Bil Bowman, and the trio’s tight onstage interplay showcases their complex riffing within a solid foundation of gnarly doom. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Busse Woods, Acid King will play the album in its entirety at each show on this tour, and they’ll be selling new vinyl and CD reissues from RidingEasy, which will include lyric sheets and a historical “making of” insert. Whether you’ve been listening to noisy doom since the Pleistocene or just discovered it, you owe it to yourself to see Lori S. command the stage at least once.   v