Golden Animals have regurgitated the sound and mood of doom rockers
The Doors, with some class and style - it doesn’t end there.
Donning gear like Devendra Banhart, hairy Baltimore-born guitarist Tommy Eisner
and Swedish born songbird/drummer Linda Beercroft re-located from Brooklyn and
holed up on a ranch in the Californian desert to get the ambiance for this retro
sounding album. A bold, but worthwhile move.
Having travelled extensively in America and Europe, they’ve masterfully pooled
their wanderlust images, nailing them in the desolate environment and 115 degree
heat. It’s more than obvious greats like Jim Morrison, (Eisner’s a vocal
reincarnation of Morrison), and the Rolling Stones, Cream (even The Lovin’
Spoonful come to mind), have been a massive influence.
Ride Easy. There’s also the scattered and immature
drum bashing of Meg White, highlighted on hippified My My My. Light electric
strumming and military drumming precursors a blues swing for the shifting and
often menacing Steady Roller, Doors-like.
There’s a cool swagger on offer for the laidback Queen Mary, influenced
by 1930s blues, until it lunges into a whopping romp with cymbals and skins being
pounded. Open with a slinky and mellow tone the delightful Ride Easy nods to
late 60s psychedelia. With a thumping beat, subliminal riffs and rolling
guitar licks, Try On Me is hook happy with catchy chorus and their most
commercial effort, with Follow me Down right out of the Doors songbook,
with Eisner’s deep tone lilting towards Morrison once again.
My Friend Bill has much the same quality, though the solo picks are more
refined. The closer, Darkness and Light retains The Doors hangdog feel,
and it perfectly captures (more than any other) the baron wilderness the holed-up
in. Just like the start, they leave us with a sumptuous bluesy ballad Darkness And
Light, with some deft and disciplined slide guitar honey.
A main feature of this wonderfully titled album is Eisner’s deep and soulful
baritone.
1. The Steady Roller
2. Queen Mary (The Flop)
3. Ride Easy
4. Try On Me
5. My My My
6. Follow Me Down
7. Turn You Round (Don’t Let Nobody)
8. My Friend Bill
9. I Want You To Come
10. Alice
11. Darkness And Light
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
