Monday, February 22, 2016

Review of Darnell Boys from Princeton's Intersections mag by Gabbie Watts

 A local discovery: The Darnell Boys
Mess, mess, and brilliant.
The Darnell Boys hail from Athens, Georgia. They play musical chairs with their instruments. When I saw them in an Atlanta basement over the summer (2013), they were raising money to buy another guitar and exchange the instruments they had with each other from song to song. Their drum set was made out of pots and pans. And, they could all play every instrument.
And they manage to create an incredible sound: rough, in-your-face, and spicy.  The first track on their self-titled album “You Got The Devil” is their hottest track. It starts with a zesty guitar beat, then the electric guitars comes in with the spoons (drum set). The Boys sing together, but slightly off, creating a delayed, lingering, sensual sound. Also, they are singing about North Georgia mountain girls being taken into the hearth of the devil, a very, very seductive dude. The track ends in chaos with layered voices and echoed harmonies.

Tracks range from a band of train robbers to catfish to hard times. But each track is relentless, and on the whole the album continues to bump and pump the whole way through. No slow numbers for the Darnell Boys. Sadness and lonesome hearts, yes, but not slow.


By Gabbie Watts in Princeton’s Intersections -    
 Link for complete article

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