Rapid Fire Magazine

Summer 1993

Lava Diva Tape Review

This band is based out of Los Angeles, And they fuckin’ RULE. A power trio consisting of Greg on drums, Johnny on Bass, and Dawn on Guitar and Lead Vox (In LA, you don’t need last names, they just get in the way.) While this band does have funk qualities I would certainly not put them in the same grouping as the Chilies or Jane’s. A unique sound all their own. It would also be too easy to box Dawns stunning vocals with that of Natalie Merchants, (Lord knows that can be done with hundreds of women fronted bands). No, this is a band to be caught live, and a tape to be played to the point of breaking. Songs like “Heroine” are the ones that will stay in your head for days at a time, with screams that will leave permanent scorch marks on your soul. I could go on about how songs like “Nothing At All”, “Johnny Cadet”, “Fraction of an Eye”, and “Jezel” give you that warm feeling of hopelessness that only banishment for a year or two to a hellishly dirty, violent, and grossly overpopulated city can provide. But I won’t. If you write to any band for a product list at all this year, Make it Lava Diva. Get this fuckin’ Tape.