If any rock band in 2019 were going to call an album
Blessed Is the Boogie, it would make sense for it to be
Datura4, the Australian four-piece who have spent their career evoking the spirit of any number of denim-clad blues-rock outfits from the '70s. But if they were going to call an LP
Blessed Is the Boogie, their third effort is an unlikely choice, since it offers significantly less guitar-powered boogie than their previous work. That is not to say there isn't plenty of boogieing going on here; the first half of the album makes
Datura4 sound like a band destined to share a stage with
Savoy Brown and/or
Status Quo, with the strut of
Dom Mariani's guitar and vocals and the implacable stomp of
Warren Hall's drums standing front and center. However,
Blessed Is the Boogie features a new lineup of
Datura4, and these days they've traded their twin guitar attack for one guitar and a keyboard player, Bob Patient, and the second half of the program dials down the swagger and the bluesy side of their sound in favor of a more static variety of vintage hard rock. The wailing guitar and Hammond B-3 on "Not for Me" and "Cat on a Roof" blend together well, and the "lost in the Big Bad City" vibe of "The City of Lights" is a good match for
Mariani's voice and his evocative guitar swells. In a way, the stylistic change-ups on
Blessed Is the Boogie work in the group's favor;
Datura4 were clearly good at what they were doing, but their songwriting was rather monochromatic, and the broader palette here makes that less of an issue. At the same time,
Datura4 are a good hard rock band, but they're a better boogie machine, so even though this album represents a step forward for them, they need to build their muscles outside of the blues before they can make the most of their advances in songwriting. They said it themselves -- blessed IS the boogie. ~ Mark Deming