Artist to Watch: Year Long Disaster

WHO When Daniel Davies was learning to play guitar at fourteen, his dad complained about the noise — not unusual, except that his father is the Kinks' Dave Davies. "Even when your dad does something cool for a living, he's still your dad," says Daniel, who picked up the instrument in order to bond with his father. Over the years, Daniel's noisy skronk evolved into Zeppelin-style anthems. Now he channels that spirit in the L.A. trio Year Long Disaster.

SOUND With Davies' reedy yowl, Richard Mullins' speed-rock bass line and drummer Brad Hargreaves' assured rhythms, YLD play raw, Seventies-style rock with exotic song titles: "Per Qualche Dollaro In Piu" takes its name from Davies' Italian poster for Clint Eastwood's For a Few Dollars More, and "Leda Atomica" is the title of a Salvador Dali painting.

KEY TRACK "Leda Atomica" A speed-metal mash-up of "Smoke on the Water" and "Gimme Shelter."

GETTING KINKSY Davies and Mullins bonded over drugs in 2003 and became roomies. A year later, they sobered up and saw Hargreaves perform and asked him to play with them, not knowing Hargreaves had been rehearsing with Third Eye Blind to portray the Kinks on NBC's American Dreams. Blown away by the coincidence, Hargreaves joined and YLD were born.

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