The world really doesn’t need another band that’s fond of fuzzed-out guitars, drowsy vocal harmonies and My Bloody Valentine’s back catalog. But when a group writes songs as intoxicating and exciting as those constituting Darker My Love’s second album, 2, room can certainly be cleared on the iPod.
More
- Beyond the Weekly
- Darker My Love
- Darker My Love on MySpace
- Darker My Love on Billboard.com
The LA quintet—fronted by Tim Presley, formerly of hardcore outfit The Nerve Agents, and featuring ex-Distillers drummer Andy Granelli—succeeds by avoiding the lethargic posturing that often sinks its druggy counterparts. Instead, songs such as “Pale Sun” and highlight “Talking Words” find more inspiration in power-pop’s compact hooks and sunny harmonies (think Redd Kross and early Sloan), while “Two Ways Out” echoes the sunburned psychedelia of Swervedriver.
Hints of ’90s Brit-pop also emerge, in the form of the hard-charging psychedelic rave-up “Blue Day” and the Verve-like “White Composition,” a taffy-pulled, low-key jazz meander. The most dominant influence on 2 might be early-era Dandy Warhols, with whom Darker My Love is currently touring. Despite all of these touchstones, however, the band manages to emerge as far more than a distiller of nostalgia.
The bottom line: ***1/2
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