Year Long Disaster

Album Review

The problem with bands that try to sound like Led Zeppelin is that they never do: they sound like bands trying to sound like Led Zeppelin. Granted, it's a bit more complicated than that with Year Long Disaster. On their debut album, you'll hear plenty of other influences as well, from the energetic Southern rock shuffle of "Leda Atomica" (which actually sounds like a tossed-off collaboration between Zep and ZZ Top), to the Cream and Black Sabbath references that peek out from around almost every corner. Originality is overrated in rock music, and these guys deserve credit for embracing their influences without shame. And there are times when they succeed in breathing new life into these tired tropes — "Cold Killer" is certainly not original, but the band fully owns that song's mastodon groove — and there are also moments of startling originality, such as the complex and brilliantly rocking "Swan on Black Lake." If Year Long Disaster can digest those influences just a bit more fully and get past its taste for staggeringly pretentious song titles ("Leda Atomica," "Galea Aponeurotica," etc.) then the band may be headed for great things.