The Deathray Davies'
The Day of the Ray screams "we are the mods!" with a groove reminiscent of
the Kinks as well as recent
Jam revivalists like
the Insomniacs. This isn't garage rock like
the Mooney Suzuki, it is unabashed garage pop, and
the Davies have finally been able to reproduce their live sound in the studio with a full band. "I'm From the Future" packs all their fuzzed-out intensity, catchy hooks, and grinding,
Kinks-y keyboards into one song. Tracks like "Don't Point at the Stoners" and the simple "Her First Party" -- which never takes off as much as you'd expect -- seem weak by comparison to the surrounding material, but they are more than made up for by the dreamy, handclaps-and-all sound of "She Can Play Me Like a Drum Machine" and the psychedelic rumble of "The Medication's Gone."
The Day of the Ray is an album that could have been called "radio-friendly" back when it meant something. ~ Charles Spano