Danava and the "Return of Rock": Word to Your Wolfmother

by Ari Abramowitz
1 August 2006

The corners of my mouth, as well as my blood pressure went up just a bit after a quick glance at last week’s New York Press front page. “The Return of Real Rock ‘N Roll,” it blared as if it had landed the scoop on the Meaning of Life. Now, to which return to “real rock ‘n roll” were they referring here? Was it THE STROKES’ one, THE WHITE STRIPES’ one, THE HIVES’/VINES’ one, OASIS’s one, PEARL JAM’s one, NIRVANA’s one—which was it? My memory sucks, and it’s only getting worse, but I remember at least these former front-page messiahs, accompanied with their various headline takes on “Rock is Back,” “Rock ‘N Roll Saviors,” “Return of Rock” ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

True, some of these bands did have significant influence, and yes, the devious, world-domination plots of shadowy (gulp) marketing and publicity houses are not only the provenance of hyperbole. The point is, happily and obviously, that rock never “leaves,” so there’s no need for its return. Sadly, bombastic declarations of rock’s return do not necessarily make those credited with bringing the return in question particularly vital or interesting. So, while the New York Press’ lede line may have been ridiculous, its choice of anointed savior was more depressing: the Australian hard rock band, WOLFMOTHER. Sure, they’re derivative, but that’s not the problem. The problem is how blandly derivative they are. The band’s music isn’t particularly heavy or hard. Nor is it particularly catchy or interesting stylistically. Hey, it’s tough to cover all three of these bases. But is it too much to ask for two? How about one?

As a frustrating comparison, there already was a strong, retro hard rock movement in the mid-late 90s, with bands such as KYUSS and SLEEP making significant contributions to the classic lineage of hard rock while still retaining much of the aesthetic framework that defines their music as “rock.” These bands have also been accused of derivativeness, but the difference is that they added their own innovations to the sounds of their influences (Kyuss with its expansively thick guitar sound and the spacing and psychedelic sound of their Zeppelin-esque foundation and Sleep with its increasingly massive and epic take on their Sabbath forebears), just as LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH added to the innovations of the bluesmen and other artists who had come before them. It seemed likely that more and more bands would continue to push core, hard rock sounds in new directions.

Fortunately, some bands, such as THE MARS VOLTA, CIRCLE, F***ING CHAMPS, and others have risen to the challenge (as the best always do). Unfortunately, it seems that now substantial press has been dedicated to the bands that have not, leaving us with sounds of the past, only worse. Wolfmother’s tired, sorta-Zeppelinisms, WITCH’s pedestrian riffs (despite having J. MASCIS on drums), and EARLY MAN’s pitiful, thrashier take on the style have garnered far more share of attention on paper and screen than they warrant, if they warrant any.

But I am hopeful. And not in the “there’s this band from Dead Horse, Arkansas that has never played a song before but I know they’re the best hard rock band since BLUE CHEER anyway” sense. I mean it in the “making their way around the blogosphere and already kinda well-known” sense. The “buzz band” sense, even. The same sense that gave rise to Wolfmother, et al, believe it or not. They’re called DANAVA (“don-uh-vuh,” as if they were too blitzed, wasted, rocked, hammered,or tripped to pronounce the “n” in Donovan) and they’re from Illinois-via-Portland, Oregon. They’re definitely retro (and have even played with Wolfmother), but the influences have shifted to the mid-70s—not as many “Blue Sabbelin 5” influences.

We’re moving significantly further into glam and prog territory here. FOGHAT’s electro-boogie is strutting around, HAWKWIND’s proggier space trippin’ is taking off, ANGEL’s epic bubblegum is rising high, DAVID BOWIE from The Man Who Sold the World is taking it all in while FRANK FRAZETTA paints the scene, complete with snow bears ridden by blonde barbarian women in steel, string bikinis, marauding sabertoothed lions, and all of the musicians at peak, ripped hugeness for this year’s Mr. Olympia competition. Each influence alters the other, placing Danava among the best kind of retro-rockers: passionately and soulfully reverential of their music’s roots while transforming it through their warped lenses. On top of that, the band sounds sharp, tight, and huge, as though they’ve been living and riding this music proudly since junior high. No hipster metal here.

I would usually say it all comes down to how well they deliver the goods live but the clip on their MySpace page suggests that all I need to know is there.

Filed under hard rock newspapers