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There’s a kind of powerpop that steers well clear of the candy-ass end of the spectrum, yet manages to avoid macho, posturing cockrock-iness. That sweet spot is where Donovan’s Brain<\/strong> lives. Just when you think every good riff has been used, here they come with a menacing bass line figure around which they build the opening track on their latest, Turned Up Later<\/em>. And true, that bass figure on \u201cTake Me With You When You Go\u201d may in fact have been used before \u2013 okay, maybe a few thousand times, if we’re honest about it \u2013 but here it feels fresh and new.<\/p>\n But at their core, Donovan’s Brain aren’t a powerpop band at all: that label is far too limiting for them. Decidedly retro, yet in a more modern\/classicist, Tom Petty<\/strong> sort of way, they are equally at home with windmill guitar figures and rocking guitar solos as they are with laid-back psychedelic excursions.<\/p>\n To wit: the band shifts gears completely for \u201cAs the Crows Fly,\u201d which feels like a cross between Their Satanic Majesties Request<\/em> era Rolling Stones<\/strong> (note: that’s a compliment; it’s my favorite Stones LP) and 80s paisley underground heroes Rain Parade<\/strong>. And this is one band that understands the conventions of a pop song: most of the tracks on Turned Up Later<\/em> fade out long before they get overly familiar.<\/p>\n Swooshy, phase shifted guitars and Mellotron are among the highlights of \u201cIt’s All Right With Me.\u201d In fact the mighty Mellotron figures prominently on a number of the tracks by this supergroup-of-sorts. I don’t use that term lightly: the personnel includes Deniz Tek<\/strong> (Radio Birdman<\/strong><\/a>), Bobby Sutliff<\/strong><\/a> (Windbreakers<\/strong>), Ron Sanchez<\/strong>, and Matt Piucci<\/strong> of the aforementioned Rain Parade, among other notables. That Donovan’s Brain features tracks by no less than five composers ensures that it’s a varied offering, yet the tracks hold together as a cohesive whole. The baroque-psych textures of \u201cMy Own Skin\u201d evoke memories of both Brian Jones<\/strong> and The Verve<\/strong> (who, you may recall, famously nicked the Stones awhile back). And this<\/em> is done without any sort of nicking.<\/p>\n
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