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Datura 4 — Invisible Hits
(Alive Natural Sound 0229, 2023, LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-03-21

Invisible Hits Cover art

Six albums into their career, Australia’s Datura4 continue to explore aspects of their core early-70s inspirations, presenting eight tracks of solid rock full of great guitar and organ work. These tracks are gathered from outtakes that didn’t make previous albums, along with some remastered gems. “Drive-by Island” starts things off with a mid-tempo groove, which seems like an odd choice if you want to grab listeners’ attention, but they make it work with a longish track that does jump into a faster tempo from time to time over its nearly eight minutes. “Walk on the Water” features some tasty two-guitar harmonies along the lines of early Wishbone Ash. “Evil People Pt. 2,” from Blessed Is the Boogie (2019), actually preceded part one, which was on West Coast Highway Cosmic (2020), a bluesy strut that takes after Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac. Later on the album, they touch on ZZ Top boogie with hot slide guitar (“Going Back to Hoonsville,” originally from Neanderthal Jam), gritty harmonica blues (“Rule My World”), tasty high-energy instrumentals (“Phoenix”), and more. While there’s really nothing here that sounds like anything has changed since 1972 (aside from the quality of recording technology), Datura4 handles the music with a fresh attitude that doesn’t sound at all tired or nostalgic. They’ve grown beyond their garage rock roots without getting wimpy or over-intellectual, and their professionalism shows in every aspect of this fine album.

Filed under: Archives, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Datura 4

More info
http://datura4.bandcamp.com/album/invisible-hits

 

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