The Donkeys
Living On the Other Side
(Dead Oceans, 2008)

From the first notes of the first song, and then throughout the remainder of the 11-track album, it’s clear that the Donkeys, like many of their southern California contemporaries, have looked to the past to pave the way for their sound. Indeed, should anyone doubt that sentiment (although I think it’d be hard to deny it), under “influences” on the Donkeys’ MySpace page, they credit their parents. Those influences are varied but all along the old-school country-rock vibe… seems their parents were hippies. Earthy remnants of American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead-era Grateful Dead, the warmth of the Beach Boys, the Southern-rock roots of the Allman Brothers, are apparent in every noodling guitar sequence, in their pleasantly soothing harmonies, and languid, charming melodies.

The Donkeys are from San Diego, and as Living On the Other Side reeks of sunshine and backyard barbeques, that seems like a happy, logical home for this quartet. While it’s perhaps a little late into the fall season for this album to best find its legs on collective listening rotations—this is clearly a summery album (and I for one, am convinced in the season-ability of albums)—it’s a warm breeze of easy listening that can still find a place, at least in my home.

While their lyrics are not nearly as profound as the Grateful Dead (I don’t care if you’re a fan or not, you can’t discredit Robert Hunter’s lyricism), in time, I think they could mature into more literate songwriters… but for now, that doesn’t really seem to be the point. They have made an album that, quite simply, is not challenging, but god knows many of us could use this at times, to rest our ears from music loud and abrasive, and to satiate our need for ease in this ever-searching and deeply interpretative age of music. “Pretty Thing” has a simple, folky, nasal ring to it, while the following “Traverse Wine” is more meandering, a song that sets the stage for a warm summer nap on a hammock, with, as the title implies, a glass of wine. What the Donkeys’ lack in their lyricism, they make up by crafting gentle moods of easy, beach-side livin’.

Some of the tracks are right off that aforementioned Grateful Dead canon: “Dolphin Center” could be a sequel to the Dead’s “Black Muddy River”, and in “Downtown Jenny”, vocalist/drummer Sam Sprague’s voice seems to channel Jerry Garcia. However, it’s not solely a Grateful Dead venture. The Allman Brothers are evoked in closing track “Excelsior Lady” and an apolitical CCR in “Bye Bye Baby.” There’s even ’50s surf rock represented with “Nice Train.” Again, while the Donkeys aren’t doing anything new here, there is a place in music for the ghosts of rock’s past to find their way into revisitation. The Donkeys seem to be yet another indication that we, as a music community, are continuing this trend of taking trips back through rock ‘n’ roll’s hallowed lineage to make it once again relevant for today.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

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