'Desert Monkey – Water Damage - Self Release (but available at an over priced corporate whore record store near you!)

Let’s face it, the seventies weren’t all that bad. Sure, "cords" were fashionable, as were bell bottoms, there wee only three channels on the box, but they also gave us the Oldsmobile 442, the Hemi ‘Cuda, The Dukes Of Hazzard and Sabbaths best work (and who amongst us hasn’t tried getting in touch with Ozzy’s management to find out exactly what it was that Ozzy was smoking when he wrote "Fairies Wear Boots" in a desperate attempt to score some for ourselves? You haven’t? Must just be me then…), and I guess that "Desert Monkey" have some kind of seventies fetish going on as well (along with an enduring love of Kyuss, Unida etc.) as the pre-dominate feel of this records harks back to mid seventies rock.

Big riffs, a kick arse rhythm section and a singer who is actually pretty damn, and from the sum of it’s parts, everything should just gel together and create a sense of , well, of musical nirvana. All things being equal, that’s exactly what should have happened here, and it’s kind of a pity that someone didn’t tell Desert Monkey this. It’s not that the songs are bad, they’re not, not at all, but I just got a feeling that they were holding back and capable of so much more than is on offer here, which leads into the eternal question.

Why? You can sense them straining at the bit, itching to let go, but they never do, and that’s one hell of down dirty shame. Maybe next time the shackles and all bets will be off huh guys? Until next time then…'

(Review by Tim Mass Movement www.subba-cultcha.com)