February 2nd, 2014 - The Groundhogs' Day... or... Thank Christ For The Bohemian Cherny Bock

Happy Groundhog Day!!  What better way to celebrate this ridiculous holiday than with craft beer and early '70s hard rock?  Today I'm pairing "Thank Christ For The Bomb" by The Groundhogs and a Cherny Bock from Bohemian Brewery!  This pairing goes out to my friend Eric Wells, who turned me on to The Groundhogs and is also quite the craft beer aficionado!  Cheers Eric!!

"Thank Christ For The Bomb" was released in 1970 by the English rock band The Groundhogs and is their 3rd studio release.  Although they never gained significant commercial success and recognition, The Groundhogs (and specifically "Thank Christ For The Bomb") had some prominence in the early '70s and some long-lasting influence on musicians like Julian Cope, Captain Sensible, and Stephen Malkmus.  In fact, Queens of the Stone Age once covered "Eccentric Man".  They also opened for The Rolling Stones in 1971 at the request of Mick Jagger.  And guitarist/vocalist Tony McPhee has had a fairly successful 40+ year career as a solo artist.  (The album was also engineered by Martin Birch, who would go on to become one of the most important and prolific producers in hard rock and heavy metal.)   Anyway, the power trio known as The Groundhogs was made up of McPhee along with Peter Cruickshank on bass and Ken Pustelnik on drums.  Influenced by both the blues-based rock of the British Invasion bands (The Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, Yardbirds, John Mayall And The Blues Breakers, Chicken Shack, etc.), The Groundhogs also found influence from American folk rock, psychedelic, and hard rock bands (The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Spirit, Blue Cheer, etc.).  Songs like "Strange Town", "Darkness Is No Friend", "Soldier", the title track, "Ship On The Ocean", "Garden", and "Eccentric Man" are richly textured rockers that definitely stand the test of time and deserve much more recognition.  Do yourself a favor and check out The Groundhogs and specifically
"Thank Christ For The Bomb"!

I thought the bluesy rockin' socio-political satire of "Thank Christ For The Bomb" deserved something dark, but not too heavy... like a good, solid schwartzbeir.  Cherny Bock from Bohemian Brewery is a traditional schwartzbeir brewed .  Taken from their website at http://www.bohemianbrewery.com/:  "The word Cherny litteraly means ‘black‘ in Czech referring to the color of the rather surprising dark Schwartzbeir with gentle bitterness to appeal your palette.  A true gem to be discovered by specialty beer lovers."  Ain't that the truth!  The Cherny Bock pours an almost ink black with a 1-finger mocha head.  The nose is nutty, malty, and earthy.  There are notes of hazelnut, peanut, caramel, and roasted malts.  The flavor follows the nose.  There are notes of toasted bread, hazelnut, almond, and hints of dark chocolate and coffee.  The Cherny Bock goes down easy and finishes clean... great for chillin' with The Groundhogs!  And if you squint really hard (or have a few too many Cherny Bocks), the goat character on the can starts to look kinda like a groundhog!  ;) 

Cheers!