Contender for one of 2011 finest.Depending on your view of music from the seventies, you might like to banish this away in some dusty dungeon or champion it as a modern classic.
The fourth album (Counting last year's donation/freebie "Last Day of Summer") sees the Austin, Texas band expanded to a four-piece to include guitarist Austin Jenkins. Incidentally, D is also the fourth alphabet...
The music instantly harks back to the glory days of Cream and also conjures up the ghosts of a chugging Grateful Dead. There's guitar noodling extending into jams just shy of a drum solo. There's twin guitar attacks, muscular riffs, complex rapidfire polyrhythmic drumming, James Petralli's bluesy, sweet yet strong tonsils, occasional kooky lyrics and even breathy fluttering flute (Courtesy of Alex Coke) set to a Samba marimba-flecked melody on River to Consider.
But what really stupefies is just how tight this band is. They've developed a synergy or sixth sense which can only come from hours and hours of playing together. No amount of studio wizardry could mimic the interplay this band has mastered. Some veteran musicians should hang their heads in shame. They are that good.
The fourth album (Counting last year's donation/freebie "Last Day of Summer") sees the Austin, Texas band expanded to a four-piece to include guitarist Austin Jenkins. Incidentally, D is also the fourth alphabet...
The music instantly harks back to the glory days of Cream and also conjures up the ghosts of a chugging Grateful Dead. There's guitar noodling extending into jams just shy of a drum solo. There's twin guitar attacks, muscular riffs, complex rapidfire polyrhythmic drumming, James Petralli's bluesy, sweet yet strong tonsils, occasional kooky lyrics and even breathy fluttering flute (Courtesy of Alex Coke) set to a Samba marimba-flecked melody on River to Consider.
But what really stupefies is just how tight this band is. They've developed a synergy or sixth sense which can only come from hours and hours of playing together. No amount of studio wizardry could mimic the interplay this band has mastered. Some veteran musicians should hang their heads in shame. They are that good.
I had this album on high rotation but have yet to tire of it and this review took that much longer because I wanted to do it justice. This is a quantum leap for the band; and if all goes well should catapult them into Rock's A-listers.
Give them time and watch them explode. 9.3/10
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