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Dali’s Llama, The Blossom: Cast in Sand

Posted in Reviews on June 1st, 2017 by JJ Koczan

dali's llama the blossom

Its cover art might be purple, but the heart of the new Dali’s Llama EP, The Blossom, is all blue. As in, the blues, and the having of them. It’s virtually impossible for me to listen to the band or even see their name without the word “underappreciated” coming to mind, so let’s get that out of the way first — they’re underappreciated — and having said that, they here offer three songs and 18 minutes of new material through their own Dali’s Llama Records and push even further into DIY with guitarist/vocalist Zach Huskey sharing in the recording duties as well.

That’s a departure in itself from last year’s grimly-titled Dying in the Sun (review here), which like the bulk of Dali’s Llama‘s prolific string of releases was helmed by Scott Reeder (KyussThe ObsessedFireball Ministry). Reeder plays a role on The Blossom as well, sharing a recording credit with Huskey for closer “Bacteria,” while Huskey and Mike Jacobson recorded opener “Longtime Woman” (video here) and middle track “Like I Do,” which is probably as close to a general mission statement as Dali’s Llama have ever come. To wit, the lines, “Don’t wanna hear about your trips around the world/I don’t have your money, fame, or dozens of girls/But that don’t mean I lose/I just wanna live like I do,” sum up the general attitude with which the band would seem to approach the world around them; a fervent individuality very much indicative of their home in the Californian desert. Dali’s Llama, in other words, know who they are, and they know why.

Granted, with The Blossom as their 13th release, that should be the case. They’re nothing if not experienced when it comes to songwriting and being in the studio, but it says something about the creative will of Huskey — joined in the band by bassist/vocalist Erica Huskey, guitarist Joe Wangler and drummer Craig Brown — that they continue to try new things as well, like stepping into the recording process. While 2007-2012 found them releasing a new album about every year, Dying in the Sun followed four years after 2012’s Autumn Woods (review here), and with a quick turnaround, it leads one to speculate if The Blossom signals a boost in productivity to come.

dali's llama

Either way, it’s a relatively quick listen that, in addition to being bluesy, emphasizes the low-key vibe that has persistently worked so well in Dali’s Llama‘s material. Zach retains some light punker root in his vocals, but the groove is all laid back in “Longtime Woman” and “Like I Do,” which feel very much of a pair, with the former rolling out a groove not unlike some that pervaded the band’s Halloween-party-esque 2010 outing, Howl Do You Do? (review here), while the latter steps forth its un-aggro righteousness in a riff-led, barroom-ready shuffle early before giving into solo-topped lumbering for the bulk of its second half. Each of the first two songs has a hook to offer and finds Dali’s Llama locked into a jammy spirit, hitting on either side of the seven-minute mark — “Longtime Woman” in addition to opening is the longest track at 7:06 (immediate points), while “Like I Do” checks in at 6:43 — and working fluidly one into the next to set up the turn of approach that arrives with “Bacteria” (4:44) rounding out.

While “Bacteria” is by no means Dali’s Llama‘s first acoustic-centered track — Autumn Woods finished with the mostly-unplugged desert grunge of “Resolved” as well — the mood is particularly intimate, with the lyrics, “I’m getting older/No one wants to look at me anymore/Bacteria/They just go and wash their hands of me,” cloaking perhaps a bit of introspection in some clever wordplay. The shift from “Longtime Woman” and “Like I Do” is immediate, with the downward-sloping bounce of the centerpiece giving way to plucked notes that make it easy to imagine Huskey and Reeder working alone in dim lighting at the latter’s The Sanctuary studio. Some reverb on Huskey‘s vocals adds presence, but the underlying impression is still one of rawer emotionalism, and where “Resolved” incorporated a late electrified solo, it’s worth noting that “Bacteria” stays quiet for its duration, some backing percussion deep in the mix as it moves toward ending on its title line, capping The Blossom on a resonant and somewhat surprising note.

A band 13 releases in and offering the unexpected? One more reason I can’t say their name without the immediate word-association of “underappreciated” springing to mind. Dali’s Llama may remain the desert’s best kept secret when it comes to songwriting, but like they do, they’ll keep moving forward anyway, and while parts of “Longtime Woman” and “Like I Do” feel like they’re playing to the band’s strengths, the jammier feel also shows the chemistry the four-piece have developed over their time with this lineup around Zach and Erica, and while that may or may not be a path they’ll continue to walk — they’ve been known every now and again to veer into experimental outings like the aforementioned Howl do You Do? — it makes for an engaging short release that, like the many offerings surrounding it in Dali’s Llama‘s catalog, is a treasure waiting to be discovered.

Dali’s Llama, The Blossom (2017)

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Dali’s Llama on Bandcamp

Dali’s Llama Records website

 

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Dali’s Llama Premiere “Longtime Woman” Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 20th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

dali's llama

Prolific and perennially underappreciated desert rockers Dali’s Llama will have a new EP out on April 29. Dubbed The Blossom, it follows behind last year’s Dying in the Sun (review here) and a long string of offerings that, at this point, goes back nearly a quarter-century around the work of guitarist/vocalist Zach Huskey and bassist Erica Huskey. The band have been ones for pretense, and their sound, while varied from release to release, seems to be resting on its core of warm-sunned heavy blues rock in the track “Longtime Woman,” for which you can see the video premiering below. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they went out to the desert to make it.

For my money — and mind you, it’s not like Dali’s Llama are charging per view on “Longtime Woman” or anything — the most telling moment of the entire clip is at the very end. The dreadlocked desert hippie lady has disappeared, and the band has stopped playing. No more shenanigans. The song is over. The final shot of the clip is Zach and Erica, taking a nap on a blanket laying on the ground. That, my friends, would seem to be what it’s all about — in terms of this song, the band as a whole and, you know, life. Who could ask for anything more than that out of existence?

I’m going to look forward to hearing the rest of The Blossom as I always do to hearing from Dali’s Llama. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you check out Joerg Steineck‘s Lo Sound Desert documentary (review here), in which they feature considerably. I’ve said in the past that they deserve to have their own doc telling their story, and maybe they’ll get there, but in the meantime, Lo Sound Desert gives a good overview. For sure it’s worth digging into when you’re done with the premiere of “Longtime Woman” below.

One more time, Dali’s Llama release The Blossom on April 29.

Enjoy:

Dali’s Llama, “Longtime Woman” official video

Video for “Longtime Woman”, a new song off of our forthcoming release “The Blossom EP”. Filmed out in a remote part of our desert. Twenty-four years and still DIY. Hope you dig it!

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Dali’s Llama on Bandcamp

Dali’s Llama Records website

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