(OH WOW DANG RECORDS; 2013)
BLUR THE LINE, the third album from upstart Nashville band Those Darlins, is the ultimate in outsider Americana. Years ago, this music woulda been called “cowpunk.” After the Darlins’ second full-length, SCREWS GET LOOSE, the face of the band changed as co-founder Kelley Anderson left, replaced by Gentleman Jesse and His Men bassist Adrian Barrera. The band’s sound has changed and evolved with each release, from a rollicking country-tinged rockabilly sound on their debut to a more rocking alternative country sound on SCREWS… to a more restrained insanity on this new album, incorporating rockabilly, country, girl group pop, alternative rock and a myriad of other musical styles. The addition of Barrera has given the group a somewhat tougher sound… a – if you’ll pardon the expression – ballsier sound. However, where the Darlins may have attacked the songs with a certain reckless abandon in the past, they may still perform with abandon… just not quite as reckless as on previous releases. How much of this is due to a maturation within the group (or the comings and goings of members) or, as has been posited elsewhere, better production values will undoubtedly be debated at least until the release of their next set. I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that the more controlled attack is a combination of everything cited above. Certainly, in a live setting, the band is still as over-the-top raucous as they’ve always been.
Right from the album opener, “Oh God,” what is obvious is that the phrase “screaming guitars” fits as well as any forty dollar word that I can drop here. “That Man” has a girl-group-gone-dreadfully-wrong vibe – including the ubiquitous spoken-word interlude – that immediately makes it one of my absolute favorite tunes from the Darlins yet. The sticky sweet harmonies (from the other two-thirds of the original trio, Jessi Zazu and Nikki Kvarnes, longtime drummer, Linwood Regensburg and new guy, Barrera) throughout BLUR THE LINES’ 12 tracks belay the more-often-than-not venomous intent of the lyrics, which makes for an enjoyably subversive 45 minutes. High spots (uh… higher spots than the overall high spot that is BLUR… ) include (aside from the already discussed “That Man”): the wicked guitar tune, “Oh God”; the lyrically ambiguous “She Blows”; the downer vibe of “Optomist”; “Can’t Think” and its slow grind; the painfully slow, yet powerful “Western Sky” with its sludgy tremelo-drenched guitar; and the strident, walking guitar sound of “Too Slow.” Though I have thoroughly enjoyed Those Darlins’ previous releases, if this is where the band is heading, then… sign me up for album number four!