Shout It On The Mountain – Neverland Ranch Davidians (Heavy Medication Records)
Any band with a name that fucks with the memories of cult leaders Michael Jackson and David Koresh in equal measures has to have something going for it. Snappy nomenclature is one thing, but this Los Angeles outfit also has substance to back it up.
Neverland Ranch Davidians trade in scuzzy punk rock intertwined with funk and greasy R ‘n’ B. “Shout It On The Mountain” is their second long-player and it’s on Polish label Heavy Medication, a refuge for acts like The Primevals, Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, The Meatbeaters and Pat Todd.
Transplanted Philadelphian Tex Mosley (guitar and vocals) brings a minimalist approach based on like-minded influences, The Gories and Suicide, and is joined by guitarist-vocalist Will Bentley and drummer Max Hagen. They throw disparate ideas into a blender and spew forth a unique sonic mix.
The trio apparently plays without a bass live. Ring-in Gregory Boaz adds some studio bottom end on the record to fill out their sound.
High-octane opener “Swamp Feet” grabs attention from the get-go with its wild take on Stax label soul. There’s a touch of Mick Collins in Mosely’s vocal and if they’d roped in a second drummer, carnally-flavoured “The Gripper” could have been on a Dirtbombs album.
Savage slide guitar kicks life into “Citizen Junkie”, a fatalistic minute-and-a-half trip. The smoking instrumental “Death Penalty in Texas” benefits similarly. Mosely poses the question “Why do you look so sad?” on “Happy” and it’s something only he can answer. The searing lead-break kicks it up a gear.
“Cactus Cooler Man” is a bona fide ‘60s pop rocker dressed as a Californian soft drink. It sits well. Mid album, with “Don’t Call Me”, a self-deprecating put down.
The best rock and roll lives and dies by its perversity. So it goes with “I Think I’m Positive”, which sounds remotely radio-friendly as it skips along on playful guitar and Mosley’s croon.
Things darken when his medical diagnostics results come back and from then, it’s a downhill trip with increasingly edgy guitar and Alan Vega-style yelps and screams taking it somewhere weird. To these ears at least, it recalls “Cubist Blues”, Vega’s 1996 collaboration with Alex Chilton and Ben Vaughn.
There’s an Aussie angle to this record: In 1994, Mosely was playing with LA swamp rock stalwarts The Hangmen when they recorded an album with Rob Younger at the production helm. Their then label IRS rejected the album and most of it remains unheard.
Mosely’s also played with Neighborhood Bullys, Duane Peters, Suzi Quatro and Keith Morris in a short-lived band, Whores of Babylon.
They call it Tinsel Town but in reality, Los Angeles. like most big cities in the Era of Commodity. is a sprawling cultural desert. Neverland Ranch Davidians instil hope that oases of rock and roll weirdness can still flourish. 
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