CD REVIEW: DATURA4 – Hairy Mountain

CD REVIEW: DATURA4 – Hairy Mountain
Alive Natural Sound
October 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

If Datura4’s debut album from last year was a sweat-soaked celebration of early ‘70s heavy garage boogie, then this quick follow-up is the morning after: the melodies dance with a fragility that wasn’t as obvious last year, while shards of light from a psychedelic hangover pierce the veil.

Local legends Dom Mariani (The Stems, DM3, The Domnicks, The Majestic Kelp) and Greg Hitchcock (You Am I, Go-Starts, The Bamboos) are in fine form, delivering riffs full of groove that predate stoner rock by a decade or two, while the Stu Loasby/Warren Hall rhythm section is perfectly loose-but-tight, providing an unflinching skeleton upon which to hang the muscle and sinew of these tracks.

Despite the undeniably retro feel of the music, the lyric are much more NOW: Trolls impales internet bitches; Greedy World is timely indeed; Mary Carroll Park is named after a 22 hectare park-and-wetlands area in Gosnells, Western Australia,

Elsewhere, Uphill Climb combines Mariani’s irrefutable sense of melody with a six-minute boogie jam, and the title track is a suitably tripped-out gonzoid monster that is equal parts Budgie and Taman Shud, topped off with Doors-like esoteric lyrics about surfers and highway wrecks and soul-searching journeys.

Confide In Me takes us down the ZZ Top Texan blues route; Something To Hide boasts an addictive slide guitar motif; whilst closer Broken Path could be straight from the Led Zeppelin III songbook.

Hairy Mountain is a continuation of Datura4’s heavy mission statement, with undeniable and impressive progression as the four-piece open their subterranean blues into a cavernous cave of crystalline light.

Category: CD Reviews