Despite the boring album title (who are they, Led Zeppelin?) Darker My Love's 2 has completely taken over my car stereo. With waves of sound both tranquil and hard rocking, 2 finds the group fine-tuning their My Bloody Valentine shoegaze vision, this time pointing their ambitions more towards Pink Floyd's mid-70's output. The result is an album equally spacey and complex but a lot less dark. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the soundtrack to a sunny day at the beach, but it's also a whole lot less depressing than its predecessor. In the same way that the title does no justice to the psychedelic masterpiece within, the album cover looks like either some compilation of kid's songs or a book on tape not a lulling, coma-inducingly thick, carpentry-reference-point sturdy ass kicking album. Nah, for an album cover that actually looks like how it sounds, Darker My Love would have to just reuse their first one; nothing else would really do. I guess it's something you can get used to, but I just wonder which group member or producer decided that Dr. Seuss artwork was the way to go. That'll be on your mind for about a minute, though; thoughts aren't really possible while listening to 2.
The unique Darker My Love vocals, in conjunction with droning guitars and simple but driving drumbeats, are what make these tracks so entrancing. You'll always have one guy singing an individual note for the duration of the verse and then a guy singing the melody on top of that; it's sort of repetitive, but that's how hypnotics works. I'd suggest listening to this album at the same time as some self help quit smoking tape for maximum results.*
The dancey "Pale Sun" might weird you out at first since there's definitely nothing so upbeat on the first album, but somehow even this track ends up sounding like you're stuck underwater. Don't let a slight change in rhythm fool you you're not getting away from the drone. This is a group who seems to have album continuity in mind because everything flows excellently.
So yes, Darker My Love have progressed a bit by incorporating new [old] influences like Pink Floyd, and yes this album is a brighter one then the self titled debut, but no, older fans will not be isolated at all. (Well
except for the fact that Darker My Love's music makes you feel isolated from reality, but if you've heard them before then you already knew that.) Somehow, ridiculously, this band remains under the radar, and that's totally ridiculous because for two albums in a row now they've managed to amaze me.
Don't Believe Me?
www.myspace.com/darkermylove
Recommended If You Like:
My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd, Darker My Love's Darker My Love
*Statement has not been evaluated by any medical board.
