Darker My Love

2

(Dangerbird)

Record Review by Amber Henson

Okay.  I'm just going to come out and say it.  Here goes.  My name is Amber, and I don't like anthemic rock.  I like my songs short, like around three minutes.  I like them full of lyrics that I can sing along to.  The reason I don't like anthemic, psychedelic rock is probably a combination of being part of the short attention span generation and my lack of heavy drug use (in which case, ten minute songs would seem short, depending on what kind of trip I was on).

So along comes Darker My Love, who seem to prostrate themselves at the altar of The Beatles and Oasis - which is odd to me, as their single, "Two Ways Out," doesn't really sound anything like either of those bands.  I guess this is just another classic case of "The Single Doesn’t Represent the Band."

Don’t get me wrong, if you’re into anthemic rock, then you will have a field day with their six minute tracks.  This band knows what they’re doing.  They have all the right pedals, all the right filters for mics, and all the right drums to lock everything up tight.  And they ought to know what they’re doing, they’ve been going since 2005, although this is the first time they’re getting airplay (they were featured in an LA Weekly article about indie bands back in 2006 that, I’m embarrassed to say, I still have, but have yet to fully read).

Everything goes fast in these songs, like they’re built to be cut into pieces and used for a car commercial.  Some songs are in minor keys, and minutes go by before any vocals surface, which are pretty reverb-heavy most of the time.  Track five, “White Composition,” is Beatles in voice, but jazzy in music.

This band seems obsessed with making their album a journey, which is fine if you believe in "The Artist’s Vision" and all that.  I’m okay with pulling pieces of it here and there, using the single on a mix CD or the space-rock track to begin a playlist.