Big thanks to TONE Scott from Goldmine magazine outta New York City for the kind words about Neanderthal Jam, who describes it as being "one of the best classic rock infused records of this century." Cheers!
Read Tone's review of Datura4 below, and you can read the whole article "Eclectic Discoveries: A review of new music with no boundaries" on Goldmine HERE.
Ever wonder what it would be like to be back in 1975, listening to some of the mid-decade hard blues rock wonders, such as Bad Company, Nazareth, Montrose, Deep Purple or ZZ Top? Ever wonder what it would be like to experience that in the year 2023 with new-to-you music? Fret not, for the Los Angeles, California based record label—Alive Naturalsound—gives us another modern throwback with Neanderthal Jam, the 5th studio album from western Australia's very own, Datura4. 2015 would see the band's debut album on the very same record label that they hail from today, and 7 years later would be giving us, what I am confident is, their best studio album to date. The band is rooted in a purist form of blues rock which will positively resonate with any fan of the '70s gritty hard & heavy rock genre. Their current studio album release does not fall short, inspiring everyone from the modern day stoner, to the aficionado of classic-era hard blues rock goodness.
Neanderthal Jam—the bands' fifth full length studio recording—is the most prolific continuation of Datura4's dedication to pure modern day boogie-woogie blues rock. The introduction track, "Going Back To Hoonsville," opens up the record with a George Thorogood-esque chugging and crunching repetitive rhythm section, and lyrics to match. It immediately describes the energetic sonic fingerprint that the band will perpetuate throughout the entirety of this road-house-style blues rock album. As the track-listing segues into "Open The Line", the pop melody vocals and the implementation of the Hammond B3 organ into the production gives the feeling of an almost circa 1960's sonic imagery, and offers a nice early break in the album from the deep hard blues rock-n-roll that this album goes so well to exemplify. Right up next is the single-worthy and radio friendly "Bad Times,"where the amazing similarity to their fellow countrymen, AC/DC, shines through brightly. With funky blues rhythm guitar riffs that mimic the late Malcolm Young in the most honorable way, combined with the catchy hook lyrics and melody that are similarly characteristic of the iconic hard rock Australian band, "Bad Times" gives this studio production what it needs to present itself palatable to a very diverse international rock & blues-music-loving audience. It is interesting (and freshening) that the title track, "Neanderthal Jam," which comes about halfway through the album on the compact disc — but at the very end of the vinyl LP — is the only instrumental production found on the record. It offers a groovy, easy, mid-tempo void-of-vocals break from the deep and prevalent rockin' and rollin' that have beautifully inundated the album thus far. With great musical progression (and a fantastic blues harmonica), it wouldn't surprise me if it became one of anyone's favorite tracks on this absolutely monolithic record. While the vinyl record comes offering nine hot firing bar-room blues rock heaters, the compact disc offers the listener two additional tracks that establish their own unique distinction from the rest of Neanderthal Jam's songs list. "Fish Fry"—the first of the two—created inside me a nostalgic trip back to the mid-'70s, when I would hear songs from bands such as Sugarloaf on mainstream AM radio. It is definitely a 'pop-friendly' change from the rest of the albums' hard and heavy rock handprint. Lastly, "Drive By Island" brings this brilliant album to termination with a song that I only wish was available to be heard on the vinyl recording. It is large, it is extremely well written and produced, and is the song that exemplifies the most modern sounding production in juxtaposition to the rest of the album being a nod to a throwback time of blues rock innocents.
If you want the full Neanderthal Jam experience, I highly recommend owning this underrated album on both formats and blessings yourself with what is definitely one of the best modern 'classic rock'-infused records of this century.