Not a good sign, I suppose, when tales of drug abuse crop up in the third paragraph of a press release — and when thrown such a bone, most of the rock press will take the bait. Aside from Rolling Stone’s declaration that Year Long Disaster Yis one of the top-ten bands to watch in 2008, details of YLD’s Hollywood-size booze, crack, and heroin problems lead most of the stories about the band. These details (and an obscure quote from the late avant painter Salvador Dalí) are offered up as if drugs alone could be inspiration enough to start a rock and roll band. In this case, perhaps it has.
If Motörhead and W.A.S.P. spat out a child, it would sound a lot like Year Long Disaster. YLD is not a blast from the past so much as they are new energy on an old subject. Daniel Davies, Yson of Kinks founder and oddball guitarist Dave Davies, founded the power trio in 2003 following a drying-out period. The band was an instant hit with the indie underground rock community. They released an EP and hit the road; a proper record deal was waiting for them when they returned to their home base of Los Angeles.
Year Long Disaster has since been the perfect opener for acts like Turbonegro and Velvet Revolver and the Foo Fighters. On stage they are an explosive romp through the sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll phase of pop-music history, couched within fresh songwriting. YLD is the poster child for a generation of listeners too young to have been there for the first go around. The whole harder-rock thing is immensely popular in Europe and experiencing a resurgence on these shores. It’s high time we caught up with our past.
YEAR LONG DISASTER, Beauty Bar, Tuesday, August 5, 10 p.m. 619-516-4746. $5.
Not a good sign, I suppose, when tales of drug abuse crop up in the third paragraph of a press release — and when thrown such a bone, most of the rock press will take the bait. Aside from Rolling Stone’s declaration that Year Long Disaster Yis one of the top-ten bands to watch in 2008, details of YLD’s Hollywood-size booze, crack, and heroin problems lead most of the stories about the band. These details (and an obscure quote from the late avant painter Salvador Dalí) are offered up as if drugs alone could be inspiration enough to start a rock and roll band. In this case, perhaps it has.
If Motörhead and W.A.S.P. spat out a child, it would sound a lot like Year Long Disaster. YLD is not a blast from the past so much as they are new energy on an old subject. Daniel Davies, Yson of Kinks founder and oddball guitarist Dave Davies, founded the power trio in 2003 following a drying-out period. The band was an instant hit with the indie underground rock community. They released an EP and hit the road; a proper record deal was waiting for them when they returned to their home base of Los Angeles.
Year Long Disaster has since been the perfect opener for acts like Turbonegro and Velvet Revolver and the Foo Fighters. On stage they are an explosive romp through the sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll phase of pop-music history, couched within fresh songwriting. YLD is the poster child for a generation of listeners too young to have been there for the first go around. The whole harder-rock thing is immensely popular in Europe and experiencing a resurgence on these shores. It’s high time we caught up with our past.
YEAR LONG DISASTER, Beauty Bar, Tuesday, August 5, 10 p.m. 619-516-4746. $5.
Comments