The Dark Sinatras

High-stepping into his best known role, on Jamiroquai’s well-worth-the-wait latest dance disc, Paul Turner reminds us that nothing makes four-on-the-floor funkier than a snaky bass line that adds tension to the groove providing a foil for the melody. Witness the octave-enhanced ostinato on “White Knuckle Ride,” the pick up mastery of “Smoke and Mirrors,” the precision gallop of “All Good in the Hood,” and the in-the-cracks fill fest “She’s a Fast Persuader.”

On the flipside, Turner goes medieval on his axe in the post-metal power trio The Dark Sinatras. Teamed with guitarist/vocalist Mark White and Drummer Ed Laubinger, the group’s ominous debut smacks of smart grooves and lyrics without being preachy, pretentious, or predictable. Dig the dual feels and slap break on “The Power of Tradition,” the broken 16ths that ground “Absolution” (in 7/4) and “Three Shades of Empty” and the walloping riff of “Optimus.” Paul, it’s safe to say, does it all.

Chris Jisi
- Bass Player Magazine

Using the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti and his view on society as an insertion point into a journey of exploration into modern day society, The Dark Sinatras piece together a ominously rich jigsaw of an album with ‘Sick Society’

With the taut and tough opening riff of ‘The Cooler’ The Dark Sinatra’s are clearly considered in their approach and delivery, probing the dark corners with shades of Tool, even Therapy? The fine line of sanity and madness walked like a tightrope, there are even elements of Killing Joke. It’s a considered strangling of the human condition in its attempt to discover a truth.

There are a wealth of sounds brought forward by this three-piece on many levels, with a host of subtle instrumentation and some beautiful vocal nuances by Tallulah Rendell and at others, such as the weaving riff on ‘The Power of Tradition’ and its interplay of drums and bass showing the bands solidity.

It’s the almost gypsy jazz flavour that takes the sounds of songs like ‘Ten Inches’ and ‘The Sins of Ignorance’ in different directions, ensuring the listener is consistently challenged, constantly asking “Where is this going?”, “Where will it end?”. It’s that dangerous uncertainty that propels ‘Sick Society’, asking itself questions mid-song, mid-riff, reasoning with itself, unafraid to veer in a new direction. It’s both disconcerting and completely welcome.

The sonic knife attack of ‘Face to Face’ and ‘Of No Consequence’ provides points of contact, gripping moments that give you a thread to follow. With ‘Face to Face’ proving the perfect groove for Mark Whites vocals as he metaphorically holds his head and spits venom “I see a liar in a suit, he’s cHasing fleas and eating rhymes”.

Amidst this experimentation and introspection, when ‘Local Treason’ comes in, with its punk funk fighting, almost Bad Religion vibe it truly stings, the build-up near the conclusion illustrates just how well the three members lock as a musical unit.

Sick Society is meant to be listened to as a whole; the spoken word of ‘IPD’ with its ‘1984’ and ‘Clockwork Orange’ leanings, ‘Governing Body’s instrumental and ‘No Measure’s static descent into white noise experimentation, all aid the feel purported by the longer excursions, assuring the excellent ‘The Three Shades of Empty’ and the dark, sweeping ‘Ridiculous’ are entirely more effective.

‘Sick Society’ is a sonically rich and fertile album, balanced with moments of intensity, bleak outlook and experimentation, forcing you to ask and answer questions of yourself and the society you are in, which to truly enjoy must be experienced as a complete body of work.

Mark Cooper - Circle Pit TV, May 28, 2012

There is something inherently pleasing about three-piece bands and therefore about The Dark Sinatras. It probably lies in the minimalism of instrumentation, three key instruments all playing necessary roles, a clean limbed, musical economy, no excess frippery, no spare parts, just the essential functionality of a machine where every piece has a vital role to play. Even considering their chosen genre, a sort of groove driven, heavy progressive rock, there is none of the pretension and flamboyance that is often associated with the dreaded p-word. This is more in the tradition of early Rush, or more latterly Muse, than the likes of Yes or Genesis.

Paul Turners ability to deliver bass grooves that are both hard as hell and melodically pleasing and the jazz-rock dexterity of drummer Ed Laubinger combine to make a wonderfully intricate set of rhythms and the perfect canvas for front man Mark White to paint spiky and Byzantine heavy guitar work upon. The result is a weave of music that runs from the beautifully complex to the concise and direct, explores the dynamics of light and shade and manages to fuse a number of genres into a very satisfactory musical package.

Like all my favourite bands, individual songs seem less important than the overall soundscaping that they create for the great and good gathered before them. At a turn it is ambitious without being grandiose, complex without being pretentious, direct without being dumb; both funky and aggressive, accessible and underground, dramatic and darkly atmospheric. In short, it’s great.

Tonight they were joined by Tallulah Rendell, normally found songbirding in a sort of Kate Bush meets Patti Smith style but here playing the full blown rock-chick with panache and energy, adding soaring vocals and background harmonic washes as the songs dictated.

Dark Sinatra’s are a band that take lots of familiar concepts and put them together in new and creative ways, but the defining factor for me was the rhythm section. It managed to move the music on from being just another four-four rock work out and turned it into something that metal fans, prog-rock afficionados and even those more into dance beats or funk would find appealing. Not bad for a school night out in the sticks.
The Green Man - Green Man Music

"...and they’re not the kind of group to send you home with choruses buzzing around your cranium. Instead they operate on a much deeper, slightly insidious level. I like them."

Dave Ling (Classic Rock Magazine - Dave's Diary)
Diary entry for June 14th - Dave Ling

"If sinister groove metal is your thing, then you’d best put on your best scary Halloween outfit and stomp off in search of The Dark Sinatras. Aided and abetted by the whirling power of Ukrainian drummer Ed Laubinger & moonlighting Jamiroquai bassist Paul Turner, guitarist/vocalist Mark White delivers a dour set of paranoiac tunes that make even Black Sabbath sound like a light hearted Eurovision entry! Monolithic guitar sounds thunder along on a dark carpet of shuddering grooves and shifting time signatures; if you prefer your metal dark and doomy with just a whiff of prog style complexity, then The Dark Sinatras tick all the right boxes. Best not listened to with the lights off, though!" - Play Music Magazine

"Groove-Driven, Meticulous and Insidious" So say bassist Paul Turner of The Dark Sinatras in describing the band's debut "Sick Society", and regardless of the step down in Popularity compared to his workings with Jamiroquai, Paul claims to feel in his element: "Mark [White] and Ed [Laubinger]'s versatility allows us to explore uncharted territories in the studio and keep things challenging". The trio have already begun work on a second album, and they continue to draw influence from anything's that's "quality and steers clear of commercial gratification". Looking to achieve "the complete destruction of materialistic tendencies through introspection", The Dark Sinatras are certainly on a mission.

Lee MacBride - Terrorizer September 2012