Darlings

I saw Darlings play Glasslands about a month ago with The Sundelles, and was blown away by their energy and songwriting. Their tunes are tuneful but covered with a sticky feedback, as if Bishop Allen got into a fight with My Bloody Valentine. The lead singer has a sugary yelp, which is accompanied by Kim Deal style female backing vocals and powered by a ramshackle rhythm section.

Darlings are releasing their first album this spring on Brooklyn-based Famous Class Records, home to some other pretty amazing bands, including Snakes Say Hiss and Boogie Boarder. The Famous Class roster is pretty stellar as a whole, and, as opposed to some other small independent labels, comes across as a cohesive unit. That’s an impressive feet that I don’t take lightly. Keep an eye out for these guys playing around the Brooklyn area.

- Kevin Diamond, Quiet Color
http://quietcolor.com/qc/?p=2480 - Quiet Color

On a recent night, the PBR flowed like water at the Brooklyn bar Sputnik, and flannel shirts covered the chests of every hipster who got off the L train.

Inside the bar, the four musicians who make up Darlings unpacked their equipment and prepared for another late night show.

Darlings, a Williamsburg-based pop-rock band composed of NYU alumni, describe their music as “equal parts sun-soaked ’60s melodies and the noise of their hometown.” Claiming musical inspirations from The Beach Boys to Weezer to early records by The Who, their sound is a hybrid of The Wonders from the 1996 hit “That Thing You Do” and The Strokes.

Darlings formed in the Bleecker Street apartment of guitarist Joe Tirabassi and drummer Matt Solomon in 2007, a few months before the foursome graduated from college. The origin of the name is less well established.

“You could say we named it after our friend’s cat,” Tirabassi said, grinning under his crop of dirty blond hair.

“But we didn’t,” keyboardist Maura Lynch said, laughing.

Peter Rynsky, the gregarious lead singer and guitarist, shifted in his seat and explained further, “Well here’s the thing: Matt definitely came up with it. He had two names, ‘Darlings’ and ‘Baby Bones.’ It was between the two and we went with Darlings.”

The members of Darlings work day jobs at places such as W Magazine, Strand Bookstore and the Mud Truck on Astor Place — a job of which Rynsky has grown fond.

“I get to be the guy who plays music — I’m most excited about that part,” Rynsky said.

Tirabassi, a semiprofessional soccer player and coach at Chelsea Piers, also started his own record label, Louis & James.

While all the members have other jobs, high interest in their upcoming album may determine whether they take the plunge into full-time music making.

Around 11:30 p.m., the basement at Sputnik is teeming with hipsters and underage Pratt Institute kids smiling for each other’s cameras and binge drinking. One particularly drunk woman urges the crowd to dance then walks straight into one of the amps. After the opening band gets the crowd going, it’s time for Darlings.

Through the madness, the band looks at home on stage. It has the crowd dancing and screaming out song requests.

“They play emotionally charged music that doesn’t seem phony,” said Brian White of the headlining band, Tongues, nodding along to the up-tempo beat. “Darlings fit the bill.”

Cyrus Lubin, founder of Darlings’ record label, Famous Class, was a fan of Darlings from the beginning, having spent a summer in the infamous Bleecker Street apartment.

“I got the demo from Matt and made copies for a bunch of the other Famous Class guys. Everyone just kind of fell in love,” Lubin said. “It was the type of thing we were listening to every day. It just made sense as the next band to bring to the family.”

When the last band takes the stage, Rynsky guzzles a Stella and admits to some trepidation regarding the album’s release.

“There are lots of bands doing great stuff,” he said. “I don’t imagine everyone liking us that much.”

Tirabassi sarcastically disagrees.

“We’ll play Madison Square Garden ... eventually.”

You can listen to Darlings on the Famous Class compilation album, “Children of the Goo,” now available on iTunes. Look for their debut album out this April.

- Ali DiEmidio, Washington Square News

http://www.nyunews.com/arts/music/oh-darling-brooklyn-band-brings-back-retro-1.1624803 - Washington Square News