Wishing everyone a West Coast Cosmic Christmas and a blazing 2025!

Image credit LOUD SONGS & STORIES (Stefano Nicastro) A review from last Friday’s show (7/10/23)at Joshua Blues Club, Como. The following is translated, but if you read Italian head over to LOUDD SONGS & STORIES and read the original there. Thanks Stefano Nicastro for taking the time to review us. Grazie mille! 09/10/2023 Live Reports Datura4, 07/10/2023, Joshua Blues, Como Dom Mariani's Datura4, with their rock-blues strongly influenced by the classic seventies sound, gave a great live show to Joshua Blues in Como for the last stage of their European tour. by Stefano Nicastro Raise your hand if, in 2015, you thought that Datura4 would be the musical "third life" of Dom Mariani & Co? I certainly don't! Datura4, for those who don't know them, are Australian guys who are certainly not "first-time": Dom Mariani (former frontman of the Stems, garage band of the 1980s, and then lead singer of DM3), the very nice Jozef Grech (who in over the years he replaced Greg Hitchcock (also a veteran of the Aussie scene) on second guitar and the rhythm section composed of Warren Hall and Stuart Loasby. Although Dom Mariani has always been faithful to a markedly power pop sound, with the new band he offers a rock-blues strongly influenced by the classic seventies sound . At the time I thought that Demon Blues (2015 - already programmatic title of everything that would follow) could be considered the divertissement of the Australian rocker in search of new "old" stimuli and, perhaps, also a larger audience. From 2015 to today, however, Datura4 have churned out 5 albums on an almost annual basis, where the mix offered is a primordial soup of electrified blues, proto hard rock and lysergic distortions, which found its points of reference in the classic groups of that era. Given the musical composition proposed, it is easy to assume that the group could give its best live, and so it was. The last stage of the European tour (which however only touched first Iberian and then Italian soil), thanks to the guys from Otis Tours, touched the little "pearl" of the Joshua Blues of Como, allowing me and the Lombard fans to attend a concert that is certainly old style , but played impeccably. Datura4 did not hold back, a set of around 16 pieces (with the cover of "Oh Well Fleetwood Mac" combined, with a clever medley, with "Going back to Hoonsville") which saw the presentation of pieces from all the their albums, with the predominance of the last three: Blessed Is the Boogie (2019), West Coast Highway Cosmic (2020) and the latest Neanderthal Jam (2022). So forget about any technical devilry, Datura4 play a healthy old R&R with the classic lineup of 2 guitars, bass, drums, 1,2,3, and so on. We immediately started strong with the torrential blues of “Looper”, and then moved on to the southern rock of “Digging My Own Gravfe” gradually increasing the volume and unleashing cascades of wah wah solos (that little pedal also called "Cry Baby", trademark of a series of great musicians from Jimi Hendrix, to Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Steve Satriani). A note of mention also goes to “Sounds of Golds”, the demonic boogie of “Worried man's Boogie” and the previously unreleased “Overlord”. But it would be impossible not to also mention “Bad Times” or the super electrified blues of “Ooh Poo Pah Doo”, or “Mother Medusa”, supported by Warren's powerful drumming. In short, although not exactly, as the English say, "my cup of tea", these concerts have a "detox" effect for me. Of course, the ridge between tackiness and good music, especially for a genre like this, is very thin, but with musicians of this kind who have been on stage for over 30 years, the risk has been totally dispelled by a compactness of sound that has made it more how enjoyable it all was. #australianrock #boogierock #bluesrock #classicrock #hardrock #stonerock #heavybluesrock#psychblues #psychrock

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.

West Australian boogie masters DATURA4 return with their highly anticipated fifth album, “Neanderthal Jam”. Fronted by Dom Mariani of legendary Oz garage rockers The Stems, Neanderthal Jam is eleven new tracks of psychedelicised blues and full-tilt heavy rock that were jammed out and recorded at their favourite south-west farmhouse studio during the early months of 2021. Having already released 4 acclaimed albums on AliveNatural Records ‘Demon Blues’ (2015), Hairy Mountain (2016), Blessed is the Boogie (2019) and West Coast Highway Cosmic (2020), Neanderthal Jam sees them building upon and going beyond on another diverse collection of songs. Album opener ‘Going Back to Hoonsville’ gets things started with a relentless and pounding swing to get your hot wheels on. The jam is well and truly underway, and so the boogie gets heavy pursuing futile love in an inner sanctum on ‘Secret Society’ until the joyous organ groove and positive message of ‘Open the Line’ invites us to dance to the music. ​ ‘Bad Times’ digs in on their OZ rock roots with a groove that the ‘Tatts’ (Rose Tattoo) would be proud of. ‘Black Speakers’ and title track ‘Neanderthal Jam’ keep the jams cooking with Bob Patient’s keyboard playing prowess on display proving what a welcome addition he has been to the band. ​ An acoustic prelude that is ‘Hold My Life’ leads things into a pummelling boogie riff on ‘Worried Man’s Boogie’ and sets the scene for personal concerns about a world and the times we find ourselves in. Drummer Warren (Wazza) Hall thumps out the beat to ‘black and purple’ on full-throttle rocker ‘Digging My Own Grave’ and we meet the Witchdoctor who takes us for a ride on the bayou with the rhythmic ‘Fish Fry’ until we get back on the open road with the epic sun-kissed west coast closer ‘Drive-By Island’. Dom Mariani - Guitar and Vocals, Warren Hall - Drums, Stu Loasby - Bass, Bob Patient - Keyboards, Joe Grech - Guitar and Vocals

Reviewed by Mark "Mad Dog" Shaw, Get Ready to Rock UK Having appreciated these guys from a distance and reviewed Datura4’s excellent trio of albums (Demon Blues, Hairy Mountain and Blessed Is The Boogie), GRTR!’s almost-fearless correspondant was not going to pass up the chance to see a cool band from Fremantle, Western Australia playing ten minutes down the road (okay, it’s a two hour drive but relative to Fremantle…a short hop). ​ Damn fine it was too. Now, Sunday nights in a Marseilles suburb of this musically-snooty, jazz-masturbatin’ nation is a tough nut to crack for anyone, let alone a bunch of Antipodean blues rockers – it’s also right in the middle of the journey from a handful of Italian gigs to a handful of Spanish gigs so why not, right ? And therein lies the cut of Datura4s jib – fronted by long-time Aussie journeyman guitar-slinger and singer/songwriter, Dom Mariani – build the band’s European footprint bit-by-bit, give us 90 minutes of your time and as you wave our bus westward, we’ll leave you thinking “merde, what the fuck just happened ?”. ​ The nicely balanced set drew heavily on the newest album, Blessed Is The Boogie, and featured pacey rockers like “Ooh Poo Pah Doo”, the title track and “Run With Lucy” as well as spacey beauties “City of Lights”, “Not For Me” and “Evil People Pt.2”. The inclusion of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” may be a personal favorite of the band……my only criticism – Datura4 (of which there are five) have enough slammin’ original material to not do covers. That’s picky, isn’t it ? Truth is you know you dig a band when you love the set and drive home listing the ones they didn’t play. “Confide In Me” from Hairy Mountain morphed into a punchy 12-bar jam and “Demon Blues” demonstrated Datura4’s ability to do dirty and dark as well as the power-pop which is clearly part of Mariani’s DNA. Spooky to me how much Mariani in full vocal flow, facially and “hirsutically” resembles very early ‘70s-era Joe Cocker. ​ Some Fremantle-based, philosophical Aussie poet years ago said: “it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll”. If he was still with us, he might have added “and it’s a fucking crowded space these days but make sure you go see Datura4”. ​ This was my second time doing the Marseilles trek – both times to see an honest and proper blues rock band do their thing – and I loved it both times. Now what was the name of that other band? Oh yeah, The Rolling Stones – so I’ve got a 100% record of seeing top quality gigs over there. ​ Credit to Datura4 for taking this to the people and being prepared to conquer Europe, one room at a time. Remember back when word of mouth built reputations ? A roomful of Sunday-night converts in Marseilles will be speaking approvingly in tongues to their jazz-confused neighbors for a while about this.

Thanks to Dave Goodwin's review in Penny Black Music UK online mag.