I often wish that I could have lived in New York City during the heyday of Velvet Underground. Going to fancy parties hosted by Andy Warhol and dressing up in those amazing fashions of the time would have been brilliant. Sadly for me, you can’t help when you were born, even if it is romanticizing the past. At any rate, it is nice to hear this new crop of bands come around with a sound that is sometimes looked over. Groups like Black Angels and Serena-Maneesh are rowing down rivers where The Dandy Warhols and B.R.M.C. stopped treading years ago. You can now add San Francisco’s Darker My Love to the list of talented bands bringing back the darker and sleeker side of rock.
To call Darker My Love a side project of some well known guys (Andy Granelli from The Distillers and Tim Presley from Nerve Agent) would not do the group justice. As a matter of fact, it is a fulltime band. They create lush distorted sonic textures that sound best when played loudly. “Fall,” the sixth song on the album, sounds like it very well could have been a b-side from My Bloody Valentine during the Loveless sessions. The track boasts dreamy vocals with plenty of reckless shoegazer guitars. One of my personal favorites, “Helium Heels,” is chock full of reverb, droning guitars and a hint of stoner rock in the vein of Kyuss. I can’t help but nod my head along to the rhythm; all the while it is going from loud and thrashing to quiet and somber. No other way to put it, but this song fucking rocks. Darker My Love has a softer side too which can be heard on such gems as “Wake,” “Post Mortem Post Boredom” and “I Feel Fine,” but it doesn’t take too long before they kick out the jams again with “What’s A Mans Paris” and “Summer Is Here,” two tracks destined to be stuck in every hipster’s head.
Oh yeah, and if you need one more reason to fall in love with them, the LP hits stores in a few weeks via one of my favorite indie labels out there, Dangerbird Records… also home to none other than Silverun Pickups. Do yourself a favor and get to know Darker My Love. You can thank me later.
“What’s A Man In Paris”
Darker My Love
