House of Broken Promises

House of Broken Promises emerged from the remnants of Unida, the stoner rock powerhouse once fronted by John Garcia after his Kyuss tenure and widely celebrated at the time. Unida's intended follow-up LP became mired in major-label complications and bureaucracy, ultimately remaining unreleased in any official capacity. When Garcia moved on with his distinctive voice in 2007, guitarist Arthur Seay, bassist Eddie Plasciencia—who had stepped in for Kyuss veteran Scott Reeder—and drummer Mike Cancino elected to rebuild from the ground up. They experimented briefly alongside vocalist Michael Keeth before recognizing that Plasciencia could manage lead vocals effectively on his own. Following a period of road-testing fresh songs around their Indio, California base, the resulting power trio inked a deal with Small Stone in Michigan and issued its debut full-length, Using the Useless, in 2009.