The answer is no, it hasn’t been a year yet. It was only back in November of last year that I reviewed Palm Springs desert rockers Dali’s Llama‘s ninth album, Raw is Real, and now already they’ve returned with a follow-up. Due out August 9, Howl Do You Do? is number 10, and like the rest, it’ll be released on the band’s own Dali’s Llama Records. Hey man, if you believe in it, you do it.

There’s a new track called “She’s My Halloween” posted on Dali’s Llama‘s MySpace page now. As you can tell from listening, it’s a little different, a little spookier with the organ, and a whole lot more garage rock. That’s just how the band wanted it to be. Here’s what they had to say about it:

Although we are normally thought of as a tuned-down desert rock “stoner” band, we wanted to make a CD that shows our garage rock roots (with a big heap of raw blues). Hints of The Sonics, Music Machine and The Yardbirds grace this CD, with a more contemporary Fuzztones and The Damned influence. In the spirit of Green Day’s Foxboro Hot Tubs, this is our homage to the nuggets that inspired songwriter Zach Huskey when he was growing up Green on Red like. Join us on our journey through garageville, we’ll return to “heavy” soon enough. Hope you dig it.

Fact: You don?t release eight records independently on your own label if you don?t believe in what you?re doing. Palm Springs, California, real-deal desert rockers Dali?s Llama have done just that, with Raw is Real serving as the latest in a long line and taking a somewhat darker approach than other recent offerings. The album continues Dali?s Llama?s production relationship with Scott Reeder (The Obsessed, Kyuss), who helmed last year?s Full on Dunes and 2007?s Sweet Sludge, and the two entities seem more in step than ever before.

Prior to issuing the album, Dali?s Llama guitarist/vocalist Zach Huskey posited that it was their heaviest yet and (as noted above) darker as well. While I only have the last couple to compare it to, Raw is Real definitely lives up to its name, more ideologically than sonically — it sounds clean but there is a cynical bite to the lyrics of songs like ?Theocracy? and the punkish ?Grump? that, political or not, adds thematic heft to the proceedings and stands the album out among its predecessors. Dali?s Llama aren?t the first to politicize stoner music to the extent they do so, but within the context of their work and in particular this record, there is a refreshing amount of honesty and forthrightness coming out in these songs. Hey, raw is real, right?

Regarding Reeder?s production, there are moments on Raw is Real that feel flat and moments that positively sizzle. When the guitar solo kicks in on ?Hell No,? for example, it?s as though the album has come to life. Likewise, the opening riffs of later cuts ?Syphilization? (love the count in with the snare — very death metal) and ?Blackout? are prime grooves, highlighted with Huskey and Joe Dillon?s guitars up in the mix, whereas even on the opening title vibe is there but not as palpable. It works for the more mellow, sweet tones of ?Always? (a mid-album favorite), but the ending movement in ?Eve?s Navel? is begging to stand out more than it does. This is a minor, easy-to-get-used-to gripe, but worthy of note, nonetheless.

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Palm Springs desert rockers Dali’s Llama have their new album, Raw is Real, for sale on their label’s website now. The follow-up to Full on Dunes, Raw is Real is Dali’s Llama‘s eighth album and was produced by Scott Reeder, who also plays drums on the video for the title track below. The band says it is their “hardest and darkest sounding yet.” Good times.

Palm Springs desert rockers Dali’s Llama have put up a new video of them recording at perennial badass Scott Reeder‘s studio, The Sanctuary. Their new album is reportedly due in September. The jury is still out on whether or not it will feature any songs about King Platypus, but here’s the clip:

Okay. Fact is this: There was just about no way I was going to approach this album with anything even closely resembling objectivity after a first listen confirmed the track “King Platypus” was indeed about what the title advertised. So Dali’s Llama is a desert rock trio from Palm Springs produced by Scott Reeder (The Obsessed, Kyuss, Goatsnake, etc.) who are actually singing about protecting the habitat of wild platipi? “Leave king platypus alone.” Fuckin’ sold — what else ya got?

As the back cover of Dali’s Llama‘s Full on Dunes (Dali’s Llama Records), shown right, demonstrates, the band’s second album is almost entirely free of pretense. Zach and Erica Huskey (guitar/vocals and bass, respectively) and Jeff Howe (drums) rock with a “What you see is what you get” mentality, setting an expectation for high-end desert/stoner grooves and making good across the nine tracks that comprise the offering. There are elements of post-punk, but the simplicity of the band’s driving, groove-centric scope is the factor that carries the all-endearing approach across so well.

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