Any thoughts I may have had this band would be boring were blown away the first time a stick hit some skin here. A blinding little drum intro perked up my interest like a meerkat surveying the savannah.
Danava are from some part of America. They sound like they should be from the deep south and sick of it. Big riffs, pounding drums and a trippy, psychedelic singer
should really annoy me. Especially the 'big riffs' part but it's hard not to listen and even harder not to enjoy. I mean I listen to punk music so anything over three minutes should be carcinogen to me (apart from "
The Decline" by NOFX and "
At The Mall" by Pansy Division). The real test will be if an album of seven tracks ranging from 4:13 to 13:21 in length can stop me from turning it down to find out who the killer is on CSI.
They don't manage it. 3:22 seconds into track 2 (when a good song should be finishing) some crap organ comes in. Bad choice, even for an outro, it reminds me of Yes. I hate Yes, I hate Led Zep, I hate Iron Butterfly, Lynryd Skynrd and all that shite but I don't hate Danava. I can't listen to their album in one go but the songs don't offend my sensibilities as much as they should. If you love classic rock you'll no doubt love this.
Danava's still a stupid fucking name for a band and UnonoU is a stupid fucking name for an album. Perhaps if they crawled out their arse for a minute I would really like this band but it's for that reason that a lot of you will love them. Regardless this band are well worth checking out regardless of your musical preference if, for nothing else, a striking vocal performance from Dusty Sparkles (a name so cool/camp I'll forgive the shite band name).
I suppose the good thing about these uber-long tracks is their ability to prick your ears up unexpectantly. Half way through track number 3 "
The Emerald Snow of Sleep" it suddenly changes. Fuzz filled guitars and and a repetitive organ riff, which owes more to The Stranglers than prog, fills the speakers and it sounds fucking good. It sounds better with the horn section that accompanies it on the outro. Each track has that moment which will capture anyone's attention. Shame about the filler in between I guess but the good definitely outweighs the bad.
The final track; "
One Mind Goes Separate Ways", all quarter of an hour of it, is more like a symphony piece coming in four stages. It's, quite frankly, stunning. Perhaps drags a little but always complex enough to be interesting. Like Danava really.
I never did find out who the killer was either.
"UnonoU" is available from 18th February on Kemado (a stupid fucking name for a record label while we're at it)
http://www.myspace.com/danava http://www.kemado.com
