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Day Blindness

Day Blindness in Bloomington, MN
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A typical description of
Day Blindness
involves references to the theoretically similar but inherently antithetical West Coast bands
the Doors
and
Iron Butterfly
, and it does in fact play something like a cross between those two groups, though with none of the musical nuance and aesthetic vision -- and none of the existential considerations -- of the former and with all the unrelenting bombast and sonic pretension of the latter. What it does have in common with
is its organ-heavy, acid-touched moodiness and its dense
blues
underpinning, though it is unable to do anything significantly innovative with either element. And like
,
draped their music in a sometimes smothering, cerebrum-numbing blanket of quasi-
metal
guitar. The band, indeed, took their
hard rock
very seriously, and that leads to a good number of earnestly overblown moments. It also causes the nearly 40 minutes of music to drag as a whole and to dull one's appreciation for their more enticing aspects. And such aspects, though few, do indeed exist here.
"I Got No Money"
"House and a Dog"
aren't songs so much as chances to jam on
changes, but each has some commanding moments. And the 12-minute
"Holy Land"
is less atmospheric or disorienting than
"The End"
(seemingly its model), but it has some worth nonetheless, though in a vaguely ham-handed way. This band must have undoubtedly provoked some gut-thumping excitement for their live audience, blasting from ballrooms with an accompanying swirl of smoke and a kinetic surreality. The fact that it has been bootlegged attests to the fascination it still elicits. The album has not, unfortunately, worn particularly well (though considerably better than
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
). Still, it provides an interesting glimpse into the heavier, more straight-ahead side of San Francisco
acid rock
. ~ Stanton Swihart
Day Blindness
involves references to the theoretically similar but inherently antithetical West Coast bands
the Doors
and
Iron Butterfly
, and it does in fact play something like a cross between those two groups, though with none of the musical nuance and aesthetic vision -- and none of the existential considerations -- of the former and with all the unrelenting bombast and sonic pretension of the latter. What it does have in common with
is its organ-heavy, acid-touched moodiness and its dense
blues
underpinning, though it is unable to do anything significantly innovative with either element. And like
,
draped their music in a sometimes smothering, cerebrum-numbing blanket of quasi-
metal
guitar. The band, indeed, took their
hard rock
very seriously, and that leads to a good number of earnestly overblown moments. It also causes the nearly 40 minutes of music to drag as a whole and to dull one's appreciation for their more enticing aspects. And such aspects, though few, do indeed exist here.
"I Got No Money"
"House and a Dog"
aren't songs so much as chances to jam on
changes, but each has some commanding moments. And the 12-minute
"Holy Land"
is less atmospheric or disorienting than
"The End"
(seemingly its model), but it has some worth nonetheless, though in a vaguely ham-handed way. This band must have undoubtedly provoked some gut-thumping excitement for their live audience, blasting from ballrooms with an accompanying swirl of smoke and a kinetic surreality. The fact that it has been bootlegged attests to the fascination it still elicits. The album has not, unfortunately, worn particularly well (though considerably better than
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
). Still, it provides an interesting glimpse into the heavier, more straight-ahead side of San Francisco
acid rock
. ~ Stanton Swihart