The Donkeys - 'Living On The Other Side' (Dead Oceans) Released 08/09/08

"No Self, No Problem." reads a caption on their myspace page, welcoming California's The Donkeys like their too busy groovin' on manna to get caught up in crap. With an alt-country breeziness that in itself could be a rhythm-and-road soundtrack for the bygone days of the horse-drawn wagon, The Donkeys second album 'Living On The Other Side' has the laid-back airs of J.J. Cale down pat, with the Californian quintet of Timothy DeNardo, Jessie Gulati, Anthony Lukens and Sam Sprague jamming-lite with a Byrd's-like hazy aura. Sun and smoke with a tab of the other.

'Gone Gone Gone' layers the country-tonk with the lightest of keyboard tickles, and 'Walk Through A Cloud' plays a hazy ode to leaving his baby sad and blue with guitar licks-aplenty, while 'Pretty Thing' captures the countrified moments of The Grateful Dead. The smoke haze of 'Dolphin Center' captures the essence of power and restraint with the band joining for chorus harmonies, and the magisterial 'Traverse Wine' forms a lazy Sunday afternoon backdrop every bit as sweet as Van M's Tupelo Honey, like a mellow refrain to Canned Heat's Going Up Country. 

The second half of the album signals shifts away from the opening ease with 'Bye Bye Baby' - "...love ain't nothing but a human disease...yes I'm movin'/ movin' to a different state of mind..." with a country rhythm and slide guitar, while 'Downtown Jenny' has a too stoned to stand wispiness with a noddly guitar to boot. 'Nice Train' finds a pop aesthetic at work with comparisons to The Squeeze / Vampire Weekend's word-play, while 'Dreamin'' feels well-placed to break the second half with a dreamy air from sitar and a lite melody, the song weaving in and out - "...the sun comes in at 5 a.m./ don't know where to begin..." like the acoustic Future Sound Of London, and 'Down On The Seat' has a fair quotient of George Harrison's flair, and the closer 'Excelsior Lady' finds a shuffle of glee. 
 
Why race when you can cruise. Never straying into the self-indulgent, on 'Living On The Other Side' The Donkeys are purposefully restrained and evoke our collective unconscious romance of Californian as a bucolic haven. Alt-country ain't everyone's bag, but listeners of psych-folk will find there's enough meat here to call a barbie, but not enough to take you on into the night.