Donovan's Brain

While any one of the songs on this record wouldn’t sound out of place sandwiched in between Uriah Heep and Strawberry Alarm Clock on your local classic rock station, The Great Leap Forward is surprisingly fresh sounding. Four primary songwriters contribute to the record, the fourth release from this Montana-based collective, and the democratic approach allows for a wide-ranging exploration of psych-rock’s long and druggy history. For half the record, the band kicks it into interstellar overdrive, with hoards of flaming guitars, splashy rhythms and acid-soaked minor key melodies. The band also tries their hand at a couple of droning, spacy epics but aren’t quite as successful. Where they do succeed however, is when they take things down a notch. Floating songs like "Cloud Maker” and "Ocean of Storms” feature fluffy, tremolo-heavy arrangements and warbling melodies with lyrics that would make Syd Barret proud.