Spotlight: The Love Dimension

Something new for the blog - a 'Spotlight' section, primarily to cover bands I dig but who don't have a 'new' or imminent release to review. So, with that in mind, ladies and gentlemen..... The Love Dimension.

The Love Dimension were formed in the Bay Area of San Francisco in 2008 and describe themselves as 'Psychedelic Garage Punk Surf Country Rock' . Based around the core quintet of Jimmy Dias (guitar and vocals), Celeste Obomsawin (vocals, percussion), Devin Farney (vocals, keys), Sonny Pearce (drums, percussion) and Tommy Anderson (bass), The LD, over the course of 3 studio LPs, several singles and EPs and one live radio session, have managed to beautifully encapsulate all that's good in music! It would be easy to bandy round 'hippy' epithets at this point, but there is no denying the upbeat, sunny and affirming atmospheres and textures they magic up in their recordings.



Their most recent album 'Create And Consume' typifies this perfectly. From the off, with 'And so love begins' the West Coast harmonies conjure up lazy days along the Big Sur, the distant sounds of The Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds and The Doors filling the air....I defy anyone not to feel good listening to it! 'Sure get a lot' is a breathless jog through some breezy garage rock, the track The Teardrop Explodes would have made if they were even more in thrall to the sixties. 'Inner Eye Insight' is a more tense and uptight number, bringing a sense of drama to proceedings. This track really shows the band at full strength; the vocals and harmonies are spot on, the keyboards are pure Doors and the rhythm section superbly keeping everything tight and on course. The track's lead out, with some lovely guitar drones, segues neatly into the next track.



The next track being 'Who's to say' - much more relaxed and laid back, with the vocal harmonies of Dias and Obomsawin taking centre stage. The music is reminiscent of some of Floyd's more relaxed material, and even bits of The Velvet Underground circa 'Pale Blue Eyes' can be picked out. 'Down the 1010101' lifts the tempo once again. Ostensibly a traditional bluesy trad rock trucking song, but the binary nature of the titular highway implying it being the 'information super' one rather than Route 66. The technological angle is highlighted by the introduction of some electronica and more krauty keyboards, it could sound incongruous, but it works and highlights the band's ambition and imagination. The track can be found in it's original '101' form on 'Forget The Remember'



'Foggy City' is another reworking of one of the band's older numbers ('Foggy City Blues') and is a frantic, bluesy garage stomper that brings to mind some of the superior Paisley Underground material of the eighties. This is a party song that would sound best best blaring out at a summer BBQ. 'O beautiful girl' is another laid back number with some lovely guitar work. 'Have you had enough' is another hectic stomper; Obomsawin sounding like Grace Slick in her prime, the tempo and tension building from the very start and ending in a cataclysmic climax of keyboards, drums and guitars. The album's closer, ‘Like The Feeling of the Sun’ is the most lysergic soaked track on the album, heralded by some sitar and psychedelic synths. It is one of the notorious 'happenings' of the sixties distilled down into a 8 minute psychedelic opus....the guitars are as fuzzy as hell, the keyboards are in overdrive and the whole atmosphere it conjures a picture of a time when the concept of freedom was an easy one to grasp; the 'man' was just the police not spy satellites or a nanny state, all you needed for a good time was some great sounds, a bag of weed and maybe a blotter or two....no consumer electronics, no technology, no Starbucks and definitely no social media - happy days!

What The Love Dimension have created is an album that pays loving homage to the sixties without sounding hackneyed or cliched; it references decades gone past but sounds vibrant and contemporary. All in all, it has the makings of a classic album, and one that should grace the collection of anyone with an interest or love in garage & psychedelia. The album was released by Warrior Monk records at the end of 2014 - links to find the album can be found in the discography later.

'Create And Consume' is the work of a band who have gelled and grafted hard in the name of their art and a look at their back catalogue charts that journey.

2010 saw the release of The LD's debut release, a self-released EP CD, four slices of countrified garage that heralded the arrival of a band that had a clear view of what they wanted to achieve. Jimmy Dias took on the bulk of the vocals, channelling his inner Johnny Cash, with Celeste Obomsawin providing some heavenly harmonies. This was followed in short order by the release of the band's first vinyl release 'The Dark Night Of Your Soul/Butterflies of Bliss' 7". This saw the band move to a more sixties sound, the addition of some Farfisa-sounding keyboards adding authenticity to the sound, in fact, if you didn't know, both tracks could have been lifted from a 'Back From The Grave' compilation.



The debut album 'In Between Lives' released in 2011 saw The LD really start to evolve into a tight, groove laden unit - Dias sounding like a young Jim Morrison and Obomsawin like a Holly Golightly/Grace Slick hybrid (hold that thought!). The album is chocka with some fuzzy, sixties-influenced songs; some, like 'Foggy City Blues' are bluesy stompers - vibrant and alive, others like the aforementioned single 'The Dark Night Of Your Soul' are pure sixties garage and tracks like 'Living In Atlantis' is a countrified, feelgood slowies. The LP also has possibly one of the best cover versions I've ever heard - Obomsawin's vocals and the band's instrumentation on their take on Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' are absolutely spot-on; it pays its respect to the original but adds that little something else. 'In Between Lives' is the calling card of a band who know where they are going; it showcases their musicianship superbly, and in hindsight, signposts what is to come. It also signalled the beginning of the band's relationship with Warrior Monk Records.





A little over a year on, in November 2012, 'Forget The Remember' was released. The LP is a transformational one in that it bridges the gap from the 'newcomers' with bucketloads of potential of 'In Between Lives' to the confident and professional 'Create And Consume'. 'Forget The Remember' sees the band spreading their songwriting wings and relying less on the breezy sixties vibe and mixing it up with some cowboy ballads ('Uma Coisa Linda' with its arid beauty complimented by pan-pipes - a lovely track), out and out country complete with some authentic steel guitar ('Hold on or let go?'), some homespun early blues/folk a la the Lomax's 'Archive of American Folk Song' ('A Human Heart') and grittier, rockier numbers ('Bound To The Sound'). The garage sound is still very much the motif running through the album; 'True love comes 'round again' is all moody garage angst and 'Live Divine' is sixties garage with a dub interlude and a post-punk feel. In all it is an album of a band who are growing in confidence and is a wonderful, surprising and enthralling mix of styles and approaches.



The next couple of years post 'Forget The Remember' saw a run of three digital singles; 'Not Until All Beings Are One', the ace, fuzzy 'Got Gratitude' and 'Messenger Of Love', the latter having a limited vinyl pressing via Warrior Monk.



To my eternal shame, I was very late to this band, I knew the name and heard a couple of tracks, but after immersing myself fully over the past week or so I can unequivocally say that I have fallen entirely under their spell. The music, right from the very start, is intelligent, thoughtful and damn fun. The song writing shows a sensitivity and maturity that is, alas, noticably absent from the majority of music these days and the vocals of Dias and Obomsawin, whether singly or in harmony, are powerful and clear, and the musicianship of the band is of the highest level. That they don't rely on one particular genre is to be commended and admired; they are equally at home playing garage and psychedelia as they are country, folk, blues or rock. ' Create and Consume' in particular is destined to be a regular on my turntable for a long while.

Discography

The Love Dimension Self-Titled 4 Song CD EP Download/CD

The Dark Night of Your Soul/Butterflies of Bliss 7" Download/Vinyl

In Between Lives Download

Forget the Remember Download/Vinyl

Not Until All Beings Are One Download

Got Gratitude Download

Messenger of Love Download

Create and Consume Download/Vinyl

Live & Unplugged on Pirate Cat Radio 87.9 CD (Recorded live on Pirate Cat Radio in San Francisco, CA 11/08/2009. ) Download