Tweet

Album Details

• Artist: The Darcys
• Album: The Darcys
• Label:
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: tosnob on 2011-12-05

Shoegazer as a genre has enjoyed a nice resurgence in the last few years. Arguably Toronto's premier entrant in the realm are west-end boys The Darcys. On October 25th the group release their self-titled debut album for Arts & Crafts.

Get ready to turn the calendar back to 1986 as The Darcys deliver an album that falls somewhere in the shoegaze spectrum between Darklands and Ferment.

The record opens with the swirling, nebulous "100 Mile House", an intense track, seemingly primed for explosion. It smolders along until it morphs into "Don't Bleed Me", which is when the powder and spark meet.

While the album does have it's more contemplative moments, it's the powerful ones that you remember. "Shaking Down the Old Bones" starts its life modestly, slowly growing into a menacing declaration. The scorching guitars and drums on "Edmonton To Purgatory" are hotter than the hottest summer day in that town. The calculated flurry of instruments on "The Mountains Make Way" are the sound of a supremely confident band hitting their stride.

The most ornate cut on the record is "Des Animaux". The scope of the song is sweeping and cinematic, reminiscent of the best work from Montreal's The Dears.

Vocals definitely take a backseat to the ethereal arrangements for The Darcys. With the exception of "Glasnost", these songs are constructed around and propelled by the music much more than the vocals or lyrics.

The record winds up with the hopeful "When I Am New Again", a song that feels almost like a musical rebirth.

It's hard to approach a genre like shoegazer in a completely fresh way. So inevitably there are a handful of cliches that creep their way into the album. Overall though, The Darcys do a bang up job in breathing some new life into the style.

User Reviews and Comments

Log In or Register to Rate Albums