San Diego’s The Donkeys strike a balance of smiling, surfer mysticism and winking, slacker mystique.They reanimate the charming hallmarks of sunshine-rock past without being sepia-toned retro orbubblegum-cloying. There is an innate playfulness and honesty to the music they make. It’s a dynamicthat has made public champions of keen-eared musicians like John Darnielle (Mountain Goats) andCraig Finn (The Hold Steady). It was Darnielle who claimed The Donkeys were benevolent keepers ofwhat he called “The Antidote” to an unnamed sickness plaguing indie rock. We liked that sentiment agreat deal.

Born With Stripes is an altogether less twangy affair than the band’s 2008 Dead Oceans debut, Living OnThe Other Side. The nods to Grateful Dead and Buffalo Springfield are better balanced with echoes ofother Cali arists, notably Pavement and Beck. The country-rock flairs are often overtaken by powerpophooks. What some might call a lazy melody is really just a melody on its own clock. Nice and relaxed.

“Ceiling Tan,” feels like a lost weekend in Tijuana with Mutations and Crooked Rain, and may well be theband’s mission statement. “I Like The Way You Walk” also cops a 90s’ alt-rock lick, but ditches anyesoterica for earnest yearnings and sweet nothings. However, as all four Donkeys shout-sing “Love youwith all my heart!” to close out the tune, one gets the sense it’s less a love song than a lament.

What makes the Donkeys so potent is not their ability to rehash the past, it’s that their records embody apureness, an authenticity that is unmatched in contemporary music. We were not the only ones to feelthis undeniable connection. The Donkeys had a brush with Hollywood when Lost producer Eddy Kitsisheard the band, and cast them as Geronimo Jackson, a band he had written into the Lost story as anobscure San Francisco band from the 70s, who were peers of the Grateful Dead. Kitsis heard the Donkeysand felt they so embodied this fictitious band, that he actually had the band re-record their song“Excelsior Lady” as “Dharma Lady” and weaved it into the TV show.

The album was mixed by Pernice Brothers’ Thom Monahan, whose involvement not only gives us thecrispest, warmest Donkeys recordings to date, it also serves to remind us of the band’s loose connectionsto an array of psych-dappled kindred spirits: Vetiver, Papercuts, Brightblack Morning Light,DevendraBanhart. Monahan was not the only outsider the band collaborated with on Born With Stripes. Theplayful album artwork was created by California illustrator and cartoonist Tony Millionaire, best knownfor his comics Maakies and Sock Monkey, and as the creator of the Adult Swim show Drinky Crow.

Don't Know Who We AreI Like The Way You WalkBloodhoundBorn With StripesKaleidoscopeWest Coast RagaNew Blue StockingsCeiling TanOxbloodBullfrog BluesValerieEast Coast Raga

CATALOG #: DOC047RELEASE DATE: APRIL 26, 2011FORMAT: CD/LPCD BOX LOT: 30LP BOX LOT: 25GENRE: PSYCH ROCK/ INDIE ROCKKEY MARKETS: SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO,LOS ANGELES, AUSTIN, SEATTLE, PORTLAND,CHICAGO, NEW YORK

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THE DONKEYSBORN WITH STRIPES

Selling Points1. Sophomore Dead Oceans longplayer from San Diego 4-piece praised by indie icons like Craig Finn of TheHold Steady and John Darnielle of Mountain Goats.

2. Mixed with Pernice Brothers’ Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Vetiver)

3. The Donkeys were cast as Geronimo Jackson, a fictional band on the series LOST, which used a reworkedDonkeys song as a reoccurring theme.

4. Cover art by illustrator Tony Millionaire, creator of Maakies and creator of the Adult Swin show DrinkyCrow

5. Vinyl purchase is accompanied with a coupon for MP3 download of the album.

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