Datura4: West Coast Cosmic Highway | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- It's a standard dig at Western Australia to say its timeszone is not hours but decades behind its east coast compatriots. This ribbing lends itself a little too easy when talking about the crew of Datura4, taking on a tried-and-true method of psych-rock goodness with often walloping production. A minor caveat, I’ve not waded much into the waters of psych / stoner rock but after this delightful dip, it could very well slot into high rotation. Fully leaning into all the obvious word play that their new album allows for, West Coast Cosmic Highway winds along sun-scorched, bone dry country in an aesthetically appropriate black, four-door El Camino with the passengers passing a Willie Nelson special between each other as they soak up the wide open view. Along the course of the trip, bombastic bursts of boogie and blues cut right to the heart of the solid, nod your head grooves, with more fuzz than Georgia’s state fruit.

The eponymous opener douses its opening stretch in a some wobbly Hammond; that in itself is such an ideal tone setter, right from the get-go. An introductory swell cascades directly into a whipping, open road blast of highway speed. As it alternates between the organ-spurred build and flat chat riffs, it can be a little jarring but that's entirely overridden by how damn fun both parts are, melding with surprising ease. Wailing blues guitar and a wolf howl of a harmonica dominate the aptly titled Woolfman Woogie. At a marathon seven-plus minutes, the track fills its body with a natural jam, giving a glimmer into what it would be like on a stage. It wigs out a little,m letting that welcome organ sound tap in. The following two songs have booming choruses that tentpole sheets of fuzz while the songs themselves dance around the marquee with reckless abandon.

Sadly, that’s where this run along the long road becomes a little tedious. Love sick lyrics and borderline cringe inducing vocal deliveries undercut some really fun, jamming songs. I wish I wasn’t so anti the vocals because outside of them -if they’d adopted the Earthless vibe of the members doing nothing but vibe the fuck out- piling mind bending sonics on top of each other like a tripper brickie constructing a house of riffs, it would have been a welcome interlude. West Coast Cosmic Highway rounds itself out with the simple, but looping Evil People, Pt 1. Like all good psych, it works around a simple motif that winds off into bonkers territory, bringing back all the sounds we've passed along the way through the record and wraps them up like a road trip should.

Datura4 put together a solid showing in this psych rock pastiche. Apologies though, the bitumen analogies worked too well when putting this review together not to use them as a crutch. To wit: it all started off strong and excited for what lay ahead, maintained the steady pace and passed by some entertaining sonic sights, got a bit tired in the middle as some of the charm wore thin, but finished with a strong burst of nostalgia and a burn to the finish; thumbs up: would road-trip again.

- Matt Lynch.