Jeff Dahl - All My Friends Are Crows

 

I've dug Jeff's work ever since I first saw him in Vox Pop in the early 80's, through his time in the Angry Samoans and his lengthy solo career. He's played with a crazy amount of talented folks over the years (hell, I even had the chance to play a few super fun shows with him at one point) although since he has now more-or-less retired to his home state of Hawaii, the records that he has done have mostly been solo productions in his home studio. On this album he does everything except the drums (which he can also play, but sometimes defers to more experienced musicians) and here the beat is powered by Sam Bradley, who does an excellent job.

Jeff concocts his own brand of 70's-styled punk rock - y'know, the good stuff, before it got stupid and/or corporate. Stripped down, but real songs and the occasional sonic surprise here'n'there - a bit of wah, some slide guitar - along with solid vocals with plenty of harmonies'n'melodies without being pop-punk.

Starting off with the tough'n'snotty title track, we get razor sharp power chords, machinegun drumming, attitudinal vocals and crow-like backing vocals! This would fit in with any of Jeff's best solo work, as would the riff-infested "Atomic Any Invasion" - more staccato guitar chords behind some rollin' licks and sing-song-y melodies. "We Must Destroy" is appropriately somewhat Raw Power-ish, with chant-along lyrics, "Little Bird Said" is kinda garagey with young, loud, and snotty vocals and a cool slide guitar solo, "The Spider Sisters" has some hip syncopation mixed in with the punk rock power, while "Manahampeetah" is just damn fast'n'heavy while still being catchy as hell!

There's some 70's hard rock heaviness'n'riffage in "Let It Drool" mixed in with Dead Boys-styled punkiness, another slide guitar break and nice backing vocals, "Bat Shit Crazy" is aptly frantic until the brief half-time break followed by a simple'but'dynamic guitar solo, more memorable guitar licks dominate "Wild, Beautiful and Free" and I love the weird sounds just above subliminal level in the background - that adds a fab dimension to the already swingin' tune! The record closes with the moody "Saint Lucifer", reminding me somehow of a cross between "Gimme Danger" and the Lords of the New Church - or something like that! It then becomes a fast-paced garage-like punk'n'roller, before changing back to the original feel. Very cool piece of songwriting and production - a bit of variety without sounding out of place.

I don't think that there's any of Jeff's records that I don't like, although, natch, some are stronger than others, but this one is right up there. It's a limited edition and you have to order directly from Dahl, but I certainly recommend it - it's a keeper!