Darlings Of The Splitscreen

Sheffield’s electro/indie menage a trois Darlings of the Splitscreen don’t do things by halves. Whether that’s indulging in lemsip at the weekend, balancing relentless gigging with full time jobs or the way they go about releasing records. The first DOTS EP emerged on the equivalent of dosh making suicide on 10 inch vinyl (as well as limited CD). The new Dash EP lands as a ridiculous three disk box set, clothed in a classy sleeve from the Designers’ Republic.

A grandiose jump forward in packaging only hints towards the musical evolution which lies within. The Darlings’ songs have grown razor sharp teeth and exude a musical confidence sleeker and tighter than the jeans of many of their less interesting contemporaries.

Harmonies, handclaps and intricate guitar lines march to the beat of their drum machine across six complex pop songs which burst at the seams with more ideas than a ‘local’ band has any right to. Cut open the likes of ‘Dash Dots Dash’ and ‘I know what you’re doing’ you’ll find ace pop songs with pulsating disco balls at their hearts. If you like your guitar music to dance then you won’t be able to do much better than this… - Sandman Magazine

This first single shows a good ear for skewed, guitar-led, electronic pop. It starts a little bit like Bloc Party, but throughout the EP several bands spring to mind, including Flaming Lips, Clor (especially on third track 'Stealing Tears') and even the Beatles at times, with added bleeps and squelches going on under the guitars. Perhaps the standout is the track they've saved until last, 'Be:am', which somehow manages to sound like a missing track off Parklife, written by Mark Mothersbaugh, with collaborative help from Blondie and 'Heroes'-era Bowie. With a particularly chunky bassline, it's a great electro-punk stomper that perhaps deserved to be heading the single. - Sandman Magazine

Does anyone miss Clor? They seemed to last barely a year in the public eye, with three fantastic singles, Good Stuff (obviously), Outlines and Love + Pain to their name. Unfortunately (for me anyway), these were the first three songs on the album and the rest of it just didn’t match up. Fortunately, Sheffield’s Darlings of the Splitscreen have stepped up to replace the gap with added vocal harmonies and Super Furry Animals levels of inventiveness.

DOTS are looking to release The Dash (geddit?) sometime in April, and if these two tracks are anything to go by, it should be pretty fantabulous. For only three guys, they make an awful lot of noise. Harmonies bounce all over the place with ‘oh-oh’s and ‘dot dot dot dash dash dash’s balancing out all the electronic riffs and sparkles. Dash Dots Dash is their Love + Pain, trading riffs for lines, before completely leaving the rails (if they were ever on any) halfway through to give us all a lesson in how to give a morse chorus. Something Beautiful begins with an almost ripped guitar line from the beginning of Art Brut’s Good Weekend before going all hyperactive like Field Music on substances of the amphetamine variety. In fact, if you listen to I Know What You’re Doing on their MySpace page you’ll be surprised at apt the comparison is for one of their less manic cuts.

Those cool folk among you (I’m sure you know who you think you are) will probably have seen them at the Ginger People Are Wizards club night that operates in Coventry (well, last December, I’m late. I know). These people are that same band with the same name! - a la discotheque