Datura4

Combining equal parts vintage psychedelia, no-quarter boogie, rock-infused blues, and classic hard rock and running them all though a big bank of amps, Datura4 are a rock band living in the present while showing a true appreciation for the sounds of the past. The band debuted their high-impact blues-based sound on 2015's Demon Blues, which blended '70s-style hard rock with boogie blues-rock of similar vintage; the band was stripped from a two-guitar powerhouse to one guitar and a keyboard player without a major change in their impact on 2019's Blessed Is the Boogie.

Datura4 feature several distinguished veterans of the Australian rock scene -- guitarist and lead singer <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Dom Mariani</a> founded the popular garage rock revivalists <a href="spotify:artist:0aJ02dgmmONlBUAeQzyFsc">the Stems</a> and later worked with <a href="spotify:artist:5mGc9Y2bNcekFrHfEVMoV8">DM3</a>, while guitarist Greg Hitchcock is a former member of <a href="spotify:artist:7GvCdRq4iHNQDsGlPWOycw">You Am I</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2PYQ0TTB6WTLYXgfN1fZTw">the New Christs</a>, drummer Warren Hall kept time for <a href="spotify:artist:4gfb9GJ7RvxktLETnC4Afo">the Drones</a>, and bassist Stu Loasby played on <a href="spotify:artist:5mGc9Y2bNcekFrHfEVMoV8">DM3</a>'s Rippled Soul. Longtime friends <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Mariani</a> and Hitchcock had long wanted to work together in a project that would let them stretch their musical boundaries, and in 2011, Datura4 (named for a poisonous flower) became their new creative vehicle. Venturing out from their hometown of Fremantle in Western Australia, Datura4 soon earned a reputation for powerful live shows that brought a modern-day energy to sounds from rock & roll's past. In 2015, they emerged from the recording studio with their debut album, Demon Blues, which was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Alive+Naturalsound+Records%22">Alive Naturalsound Records</a> in July 2015. The band wasted little time in getting its sophomore outing into the world, releasing Hairy Mountain just one year later. When Datura4 dropped their third album, Blessed Is the Boogie, in 2019, they introduced a new lineup of the band; guitarist Greg Hitchcock was out, and keyboard player Bob Patient was in. After touring Australia and the U.K. Datura4 utilized a pair of studios some 242 kilometers apart to record their fourth album. Fully integrating Patient's keyboards,the band stretched out and got looser in their approach to gritty garage psych and blues-infelctedf boogie. The finished album, titled West Coast Highway Cosmic (referring to their long drive between studios), was released in the spring of 2020. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi