As the original icons of Rock enter their golden years, their children are picking up their parents' banners and running them a little further up musical hills that were taken in the '60s and '70s. The latest case in point is Year Long Disaster, led by vocalist/guitarist Daniel Davies, the son of Kinks guitarist Dave Davies.
The younger Davies (with a voice that suggests both Robert Plant and Jeff Buckley), along with ex-Karma to Burn/Speedealer bassist Rich Mullins and ex-Third Eye Blind drummer Brad Hargreaves, has put together a power trio that swaggers with pure Hard Rock attitude and pummels like an arena full of Marshalls. Drawing on the Blues-to-Rock lessons laid down by the architects of '70s Boogie Rock (Led Zeppelin, Cream, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Year Long Disaster uses their eponymous debut album as a thunderous platform to pledge allegiance to the sounds and volume of the era that altered Rock history.
The success of Year Long Disaster comes down to the fact that the band doesn't stoop to mere retro revivalism, but clearly loves and understands their chosen style, bringing the same passion and abandon to Rock that was exhibited by their literal and figurative fathers. Year Long Disaster is definitive proof that classic Rock doesn't have to be three decades old to rattle the rafters and raise the lighters. Grade: B
Year Long Disaster plays Covington's Mad Hatter on Thursday.
