In baseball, there is the Bonds family (Bobby and Barry) and the Griffey family (Jr. and Sr.) In rock ‘n’ roll, we’re seeing more than a few of rock’s offspring take a stab at
it. Locally, TAB the Band, which includes two of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry’s sons, is making a mark as a ‘70s-influenced hard rock and blues trio. Out in L.A., Dan Davies – 24-year-old son of the Kinks guitarist Dave Davies – is getting noticed for his ‘70s-influenced hard rock and blues trio, Year Long Disaster, which plays the Middle East Upstairs Tuesday June 24 with the headlining (and very good) Burning Brides. Davies met his bass player-to-be, Rich Mullins, in the liquor ...
... aisle of a supermarket. Hmm, common interests. They also found out they had a passion for certain mind-scrambling drugs. We’ll let Dan tell it: "We went to a party, became instant friends, did a lot of drugs, tried to have a band. It didn’t last that long, a month, then it was up to rehab. We couldn’t even get through a rehearsal. We tried to stop on our own, but your body becomes so dependent. I can’t do that. I am an all or nothing kind of person. If I’m doing that, I don’t have time for anything else. When you get cleaned up you realize there’s a lot of time to do things and we’re a hard working band." All things considered, they learned this lesson relatively young.
They released their eponymous debut CD earlier this year, produced by Jim Waters who hasalso did the bluesy Jon Spencer Explosion. Dan: "He said iwe should make a tough rock ‘n’ roll record with a really good guitar sound." Brad Hargreaves, who still drums with Third Eye Blind, is their drummer, too.
Year Long Disaster, too, is into bluesy hard rock, with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath touchstones. "It evolved naturally," says Davies, of the sound which began to take shape three years ago. "When you get together with certain people and it creates a certain sound nd we make that sound. We can’t help it. Same thing the Kinks have too. It’s an attitude. I decided I wanted to play drums and couldn’t do it. After a week, I picked up guitarr, and it looked a lot cooler, and maybe I could writer a song. And my dad does this, maybe I could do it and connect with him in that way. Either it finds you or you find it." (Dave Davies had split from the family when Dan was 14.)
Some people have called YLD a metal band, but Davies demurs that it’s "hard rock." When he thinks of metal, he thinks "Iron Maiden." His goals? Modest right now. "Obviously, I want to be able to pay my rent. I wanna sell out clubs." He knows some people will come in the door because of his lineage, but they’ll go in and "say it doess’t sound like the Kinks. Obviously, it doesn’t ‘cause I’m not them. If they like it, they come back. They’re not gonna stay if they don’t like it." The Last Vegas opens the show at 9. Tickets: $9 advance$10 door.
472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 www.mideastclub.com
