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Being
an artist is partially about the struggle to expose
one’s own guts to an indifferent public. Authentic
recognition is never immediate, for worthy artists
dwelling in obscurity will be a hopefully passing phase
on the road to attention. Luck plays a big part of this
process, but so does having a relentless attitude and
great creativity. Not many underground musicians know
this as well as California’s Zach Huskey, who has been
writing poetry and putting out albums with his band
Dali’s Llama since the mid/early 90’s. I am totally
unfamiliar with any of the five albums that precede
2007’s Sweet Sludge but from what I read,
especially their first couple of releases, have a
distant sound to the earthly stoner rock of today’s
Dali’s Llama.
Sweet Sludge was produced by no other than Scott Reeder
(from Kyuss fame). He has done justice to the music by
emphasizing warm tones and keeping the level of distortion to a
minimum while still featuring a tacit heavy stoner guitar sound.
The drum sound could have been improved, the tom toms are almost
inaudible and the snare sounds pretty hollow, but the overall
production lets the songs speak for themselves. Sweet Sludge
is a grower. The first couple of times I listened to it I did
not exactly get it. The next couple of times, it started to grow
on me, and the laid back moods and mid-tempo pace of the album
became unobjectionable. Huskey’s melodies are sublime. He
doesn’t go for big melodramatic hooks and he doesn’t indulge in
free form jamming or lengthy pointless guitar soloing. There is
not a lot of blues here either. Instead, Huskey knows what he
is good at so he sticks to three to five minute songs based
around simple riffing and his laid back singing style. As the
album moves on we realize that there are other influences at
work, the desert rock of Kyuss is just one of many. The title
track has a guitar that reminisces of AC/DC (I know I said ‘no
blues’), “Micro Giant” is pure 70’s rock, but keeping within
geographic range, “Creosote”, especially in vocal pitch, remind
of the Masters of Reality.
Also
produced by Scott Reeder is Dali’s Llama 2008 effort Full On
Dunes. Here, our friend Huskey who along with his bassist
wife Erica and new drummer Jeff Howe get a little soiree going
by indulging in the bass abilities of Reeder himself, the guitar
and vocal skills of Fatso Jetson’s Mario Lalli and a couple of
others. The overall production sound is better, the guitars
have a more live feel to ‘em and the vocals of Huskey transmit
more energy. Overall, there is a more upbeat feel to this
record that distances the band even more from the desert rock of
Kyuss I was so sure this band would indulge in. “Can’t Catch Me”
starts off like a Clutch track, with the vocals being mimicked
by the guitars only to drift towards a sunny Lalli guitar solo
and latter tracks like “King Platypus” tip toeing 70’s rock and
roll and blues. “Cheap and Portable” is a semi-plugged bayou
slide guitar blues number. It’s a nice touch, a good contrast,
and perhaps a window into where this underrated, overlooked and
pretty worthy trio may be heading. Full On Dunes covers
more ground than Sweet Sludge, it’s got more moods, it’s
more upbeat and far bluesier. It’s guitars run in wilder
manners, therefore this album has more freedom. But both are
just as solid.
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