Sunday, February 8, 2015

Song Of The Week: 2/8/15







Song: "These Wings"

Artist: The Darlings

Album: "The New Escape"

Year: 2010



"These Wings" appears to be a song about the hopelessness and despair of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The horror that these people faced during the disaster was unfathomable, people stranded on rooftops and the blood of the dead filling the flooding waters. The terror of the storm was one thing. The blind eye and disturbingly slow response by our government had some of these victims questioning not only their country, but their own faith in God as well. Hailing from the Southbay in California, The Darlings formed as a band back in 2005. Before they even released any music, The Darlings honed their craft by opening up for some legendary bands including Pennywise, Social Distortion, Bad Religion, Youth Brigade, TSOL, Strung Out, Face To Face and the Circle Jerks. In 2008, The Darlings released their first EP, "The Darlings", which featured the song "Where Did We Go". In 2010, the band released their debut full length album, "The New Escape". This album featured the tracks "American Dream", "The Hard Goodbye" and "Broken Heart Still Beating", the latter which stayed at #1 for several weeks on famous Los Angeles radio station KROQ. In 2011, the band signed up with Gadsen Records before embarking on a 59 city American tour. That very same year, The Darlings were named a Featured Artist by Billboard Magazine. In 2012, The Darlings frontman, Buddy Darling, and Strung Out frontman, Jason Cruz, formed an Americana side project called Jason Cruz and the Howl. This side project did not deter The Darlings from making new music, however, and in 2014, the band released their latest album, "Made Of Phantoms" in July of that year. To support the album, The Darlings embarked on a tour with Jason Cruz and the Howl and The Pullmen. Currently, it appears that The Darlings are still in support mode for their latest album, "Made Of Phantoms". The band has really made a name for itself, mainly because of it's live shows. The raw energy and passion of the band, and their tightness musically, makes them an act worth seeing live. Musically, although they are lumped in with the many punk bands that they've toured with and are influenced by, you cannot really just throw the "punk" label on them alone. They have a bit of a 90's alternative rock feel to them as well. At times they're melodic, Bouncing Souls type, energetic punk and at other times their music is punk rock laced with a rock and roll vibe, ala Social Distortion. Either way, this is a pretty solid band that's worthy of attention.

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