The Stevenson Ranch Davidians - Psalms, Hymns, & Spiritual Songs download free

Psalms, Hymns, & Spiritual Songs may just about be one of the most pretentious album titles I’ve yet to come across, and there are those who will infer that the title works on many levels, suggesting that what Stevenson Ranch Davidians lay down here here is sweeping, in tune with what The Verve or Spiritualized were doing early on in their careers, and while perhaps true of The Verve, it isn’t until their release of Life & Death that one can make that Spiritualized connection.The song “Better Day” is the crowning achievement on this album for those like myself who’s wayward listening pleasures revolve around couch-bound intoxication … and while certainly good, the other material, for me, doesn’t hold a candle to this drifting hypnotic blues laden number. The rest of the album doesn’t seem to be able to find a surefooted place to stand, resounding with visions that have been heard and done before, and much better, by others, though with that in mind, when “Better Day” filter from my speakers I knew the band was onto something fresh inviting and new, where it seems that if wishes can come true, for a moment, with the delivery of Life & Death, my psychedelic prayers had been answered, though with the release of their following outing Amerikana, my new found heroes were right back on the path laid down here, where the only track that harkened back to my shimmering visions was “Love Is The Big Light.”It’s not an unenjoyable album, it’s simply that if I’m not one for music that comes off as this derivative. Psalms, Hymns, & Spiritual Songs is very much what it is, a first delivery from a band capable of so much more, where on Love & Death they manage take that drifting stance and deliver a body of work that will withstand the test of time.Review by Jenell Kesler