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The Donkeys not interested in sticking to any one style

The Donkeys tend to get tagged as a band obsessed with the past, something the San Diego–based quartet doesn’t feel is entirely justified. Don’t go suggesting, however, that keyboardist Anthony Lukens, drummer Sam Sprague, bassist Tim DeNardo, and guitarist Jessie Gulati don’t know their musical history, especially where the North American underground in concerned.

Reached on his cellphone in his hometown, Lukens reveals himself to be a man who’s spent more than his share of nights in street-level rock ’n’ roll clubs. And one of the best of those nights took place right here in Vancouver in the late ’90s, when the keyboardist and his high-school friend Sprague made the pilgrimage up from San Diego for a now-legendary Smugglers 10-year-anniversary show at the long-gone Starfish Room.

“That was a big deal for us,” gushes Lukens, who trades off on vocal duties with his bandmates. “Nardwuar and the Evaporators played, as well as Thee Goblins and Thee Skablins. It was so fun—they had this whole weekend planned where you could play soccer with the Smugglers and stuff. It was one of the greatest nights because we were of legal drinking age in Canada.”

Obviously excited, he continues with: “And here’s some trivia for you. I have family in Nanaimo, and I was visiting when the Evaporators were playing in Duncan, where the world’s largest hockey puck is. I drove out with them, and actually got to be an honourary Skablin. It’s one of the highlights of my musical career, still to this day.”

There are moments on the Donkeys’ recently released disc, Born With Stripes , when it’s easy to imagine the group riding shotgun with the Smugglers and the Evaporators, not to mention the Sonics and the Kingsmen. Garage doesn’t get much more authentic than the proudly analogue-sounding title track.