Path Of Niners

Aussie noise trio Grey Daturas' 2007 release Path of Niners is a frustrating affair. This may be in part due to its position as a stop-gap EP (albeit not a brief one at five songs and 38 minutes) in anticipation of a full-length release in 2008, from which one song is taken here. Alternatively, this collection may intentionally frustrate the listener in the glaring inability for any of the "songs" to resolve themselves in any traditional sense; some tracks are cut off abruptly, others drift along with no real beginning or end, much less "rock" song structure. Now for a band that supposedly never rehearses and spends long stretches on the road refining their art live, these tracks do illustrate their unique process of creation, of their ability to hone and refine barely controlled instrumental mayhem from an entirely extemporaneous standpoint. An amalgam of hardcore noise, dark psychedelia, free improvisation, and nebulous avant-garde, their music is pure free association and stream of consciousness. An anonymous quote buried on their website sums it up best: "Just because they don't have songs doesn't stop them from being a band." And while the band's potential is plainly evident, the reward isn't to be found here. Most listeners would be well-advised to pick up their vastly superior previous full-length release, their second album Dead in the Woods, or cross their fingers for the aforementioned follow-up, which, somewhat worryingly, has been advance-promoted as their "most challenging work yet..." ~ Brian Way|