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The Stevenson Ranch Davidians - Life & Death (Self-Released)

12a26a — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:36:28 +0000

(Slightly cleaned up version of a review originally published on www.losingtoday.com)

On their previous album and EP this California group may not have had the most original material (they were largely informed by The Verve, Mazzy Star, Spacemen 3 and especially The Brian Jonestown Massacre) but they wrote great songs that made you willing to look the other way if they sounded too familiar. They even had one song, “What Goes Around”, where they matched their influences, if not exceeded them. Judging by the content and title of their second album, Life & Death, the band have larger issues on their mind; tackling questions like “what is life about?” and “why is the world so messed up?” Certainly these are important questions, but they go about exploring them all wrong. A shame really given that the album is really well recorded and their singer’s voice has never sounded better.

There are two main culprits in the album’s failure: Firstly, there’s the lyrics. I get the feeling they were an attempt to inject some kind of earnest optimism into these cynical times, but they sound like the kind of empty sloganeering you would find in the margins of a college freshman’s notebook. Some of the worst examples: “They’ve got the money/We’ve got the love” on “Do You Feel Free?” and “I know we do what we do and we do what we can/ This life just won’t be the same for every man” on “Everybody Live”. Secondly, there’s the pacing. The band uses a dreary tempo that might be OK for a song or two, but when used on each and every one of Life & Death’s ten songs becomes terminally boring. Even within each song there isn’t much variety, as they all end pretty much just as they started without much happening in between the two points; just simply coasting on musical cruise control.

Tracklisting:

1. Do You Feel Free

2. Cosmic Blues

3. Everybody Live

4. Looking For A Line

5. Just A Man

6. Feelin’ Good

7. Time Is Going By

8. I Wanna See

9. Oh Life

10. The Truth Shall Set You Free

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians - Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (Self-Released)

12a26a — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:30:17 +0000

This California quartet’s debut album, Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs, is the work of a group with an excellent record collection. Listening to these twelve songs (five of which appeared previously on an EP – which for some reason was rmixed better than this album) you can tell that their Verve, Spacemen 3, Dandy Warhols, Warlocks, Velvet Underground, BJM and Spiritualized CDs are never more than an arm’s length away. On album opener “Let It All Go” the group relies too heavily on those influences without adding any of their own individual style into the mix (it’s pretty much an approximation of Richard Ashcroft fronting BJM, covering Spacemen 3) but for the most part, the Davidians put out top notch psych-rock that thankfully never lets sonic flights of fancy take priority over tight songwriting and powerful vocals (courtesy of Dwayne Seagraves). They may be wearing their influences on their sleeves, but they wear them quite well. Fans of reverb pedals and laid-back trippy psychedelia will definitely want to check these guys (and girl) out.

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians - The Stevenson Ranch Davidians (Self-Released)

12a26a — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:26:43 +0000

(Slightly cleaned up version of a review originally published on www.losingtoday.com)

Just when I was getting a little tired of bands that sound like The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols, these three guys and one girl came along to re-invigorate my interest in a genre that I’m dubbing “Dig! Rock”. The Stevenson Ranch Davidians’ “lazy-day psychedelia” may have more than a few things in common with The Dandy Warhols and The BJM (including a cult-referencing name), but they’ve got a strong command of the genre and their songs keep drawing me back. In fact, all six songs on this EP are excellent, but the best moment is “What Goes Around”, which borrows heavily from The Warlocks, but still recalls Spiritualized and The Verve’s best sweeping space-ballads. It’s not the most innovative music I’ve ever heard, but it’s still 100% worth checking out.

Tracklisting:

1	Nothing’s Cliche	3:52
2	Getting By	3:13
3	No Tomorrow	4:49
4	What Goes Around	5:18
5	Subliminal Lover	4:39
6	Better Day	5:22

Mind Wave Fest!!!!!!!!!!! May 28th

ghostghostteeth — Thu, 19 May 2011 21:22:02 +0000

I’ll be doing an art installation here and showing new work.