MUSIC PREVIEWS

[October 5th, 2005]

^Danava Tuesday Oct. 11

Out from under the weight of hipster ennui emerges a band of young glammy gods.

[GLAM-prog] Danava vocalist-guitarist Dusty Sparkles, made up with crimson streaks around his eyes-a sort of Aladdin Sane-meets-King Diamond look-flips his long black hair and belts out a sharp squeal as bassist Dell Blackwell, keyboardist-guitarist Rosy Cross and drummer Buck Rothy create a heavy, psychedelic glam-prog blare replete with harmonizing synth and guitar lines that sound like a primordial beast summoned from the depths of your stoner uncle's record collection.

The Rose City quartet is the type of weird rock hybrid that has been absent for years: one part David Bowie's '70s glam, one part Black Sabbath's thunder-throb and one part Captain Beefheart's acid-damaged art-rock. And Danava sounds so much like a group of shaggy British acid-casualty troglodytes you'd never suspect that the band is composed of spry young hipster chaps-drummer Buck Rothy even splits his time providing icy rhythms for local post-punk neo-disco faves Glass Candy. Its songs share similar bong-blasting heft and melodic lilt as Dead Meadow, but are far more prog-damaged, with hints of Hawkwind and early Queen. Analog synthesizer arpeggios collide with wiry guitar solos, rhythms shift from terse to swinging, and Sparkles' wailing of fantasy worlds creates a spectacular mire.

In its brief year of existence, Danava has already toured the U.S. opening for Glass Candy and had its The Long Dance demo CD picked up for release on the über-hip indie label Troubleman Unlimited (the label that introduced the world to bands like Black Dice, Rye Coalition, the Walkmen and, surprise, Glass Candy). So, while it sounds as though it has taken more than 30 years for Danava's music to surface from the depths of a bygone era, the band has in fact made impressive headway in establishing the sound that it calls "Heavy Devil Star Crash" in a considerably short period of time.