It seems likely that the only real complaint one could register against San Diego’s The Donkeys is that that they fit too squarely into the category of throwbacks or revivalists, that they haven’t done enough to inject the music they hold so dear with any modern flourishes. One could easily argue, though, that the urge to go back in time and discover the sounds of decades past, especially at a time when the political and social climate is troubling, to say the least, is perpetually modern. The Donkeys stay true to their West Coast roots, writing compact little pop songs that immediately call to mind the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, all soothing harmonies, light drumming, shimmering chord progressions and twangy, impressive guitar solos. They fall into a bit of a formulaic rut by the halfway mark of Living on the Other Side, but they recover nicely with the more country-ish ‘Bye Bye Baby’ and the decidedly quirkier, Beatles-esque ‘Peace Train’. It’s still backwards looking, but hell… it’s better than the last Dr. Dog record.
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