Release Date: 02.19.08
In attempt at some Vice-type brevity, Unonou, the sophomore effort from glitter sparkled Portland-by-way-of-Chicago-by-way-of-Jupiter psychedelic riff mongers Danava is more cohesive, if not necessarily concise, follow-up to their eponymous debut. Synths and riffs are the weapons of choice on this prog-psych odyssey that owes huge debts of gratitude to both the soundtrack work of John Carpenter (the eerie, oozy “Spinning Temple Shifting”) and the flashpot-and-cocaine era of Brian Eno and Marc Bolan (the bicentennial-era glitz of “A High or a Low”). While the whole affair occasionally reeks of ironic camp, bong haze and too many hours spent in blazed out on the couch watching Dario Argento films, the Earth-jettisoning sonic explorations the band has fashioned here are strong enough to stand on their own, as well as a testament to their growth as songwriters/arrangers. Escape from the Pac Northwest, anybody?
