Danava / Earthless / Lecherous Gaze

There is a nice little paragraph in the back of this vinyl making a point about the wonders of number 3. I won’t go to those lengths but will quote Kemado on the virtue of that number because there are indeed ‘three members in ZZ Top’ and Tres Hombres kills me once a month. All numerology aside, the inclusion of these particular three bands in this split simply makes sense. If you are familiar with them you would be already aware of their commonalities: they all exude a vintage 70’s sound. they are all excessive, indulgent and juicy (heavy on pulp) in the guitar department, and they all make slightly-to-heavily psychedelic music. Other commonalities may be found, but for this review, these will suffice.

I know that chances are slim, but if you ever have a minute I highly suggest you get out and search for Volume 3, the 3rd album by the exquisite 70’s Argentine hard blues band Pappo’s Blues. One of the highlights of that 1972 recording is a hard-hitting track called “Sucio y Desprolijo”. If you compare it to Danava’s inclusion in this 3-way split, “The Illusion Crawls”, the similarities are striking. However, Danava definitely go further sonically and fill their music with a much broader pallete of instrumentation (synth work for instance is well-hidden, but present). While Pappo’s Blues was a power trio never reaching beyond the amps, the meat of this Danava song is pretty much the same of the South Americans; especially the vocal rhythmic lines, the main driving riff and the melody of the solo at the end of the song. “The Illusion Crawls” is the best track Danava has ever recorded. The distance between this and their 2006 debut is abysmal. Remarkably, the voice of vocalist Dusty Sparkles seems to have matured about twenty years.

San Diego’s Earthless are a stunning band. With or without vocals. In this case, they rock it more straight forward than their usual 20 minute instrumentals but their typical treat that has had you coming back to Rhythms From a Cosmic Sky time and time again is all over this one. Their “Woman With the Devil Eyes” is another reason why not to hate on all the jam bands on the planet. As planned and rehearsed as this track clearly is, the spirit of wondering is still here, seemingly lifting the guitar riffs of Isaiah Mitchell, rolling them into a tight ball of sound and smashing them against the wall, where upon contact an orgasmic splash of solos can be heard in the distance. Ahem.

We recently covered Lecherous Gaze self-titled EP which came out thru Tee Pee and were somewhat disappointed by what we perceived to be a derivative vocalist and a 70’s worshipping style that could be described both as middle of the road and run of the mill. Or basically, lame Thin Lizzy worshipping with a constipated Glenn Danzig wanna be at the mike. Their inclusion here is titled “Get You Some” and fits perfectly in this split. It may be the fact that in small doses Lecherous Gaze do not grow tiresome that quickly or it may be that this song is simply superior to any of those included in their debut, but here Lecherous Gaze sound quite righteous.

Written for www.deafsparrow.com