Darlington
Mess You Up (Melted)
by Scott Hefflon
Forty minutes (plus 15 minutes of useless wasted space at the end of the last song), 17 songs, most of which aren’t up to snuff with the standards set by last year’s Girltroversy. Perhaps it comes down to the thick production as opposed to the clear-as-a-bell crispness of Girltroversy, but the songs just don’t seem as together here. Last time out, I took a chance and interviewed a band neither myself nor anyone I knew had heard of. Yet. They fuckin’ rocked, Chris/Christy, wrote some of the coolest lyrics and melodies I’d heard in a long time, and later when I interviewed Joe Queer, we sang lyrics and praises to Darlington. But Mess You Up sounds chunky. Besides being much more vocally gruff than the slick Girltroversy, the production sounds like an inexperienced band’s first stab at recording. I’d like to say this is archival material that was later cleaned up (“Sugar Fix” and “Buttinski” both appear in cleaner, sharper focus on Girltroversy), and that’d make sense seeing as Darlington used to be called Mess, but, um, I think these are all newly recorded songs for a brand spankin’ new full-length. If that’s the case, I guess I’m just much less enthusiastic about Darlington. But speaking of The Queers, remember when they released that apathetic turd Larry Livermore wouldn’t even put his name on, Move Back Home? Yeah, and they’re back full-force, so don’t write off a good band cuz of a mediocre record, huh?
To be fair, there are what could’ve been really good songs here, they’re just flattened by amateurish production. And Chris’ voice doesn’t sparkle playfully the way it has. And the harmonies often sound like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, these are the backing vocals… When’s lunch break?” Perhaps part of the problem is that there’re no lyric sheets, and with a lyricist like Chris, singing the silly lyrics is 90% of the pleasure. I could do a track by track of the 17 songs here, but I’d probably end up specifying exactly what lets me down about each song. And I think y’all get the point. Get Girltroversy first, and if you have some money left, get Mess You Up. Then write or email the band and say you hope they get their shit together cuz they’re a really good band that just put out a decent record. While the CD really ain’t bad by most standards and if this is someone’s first impression they’ll still think the band is good, Darlington has the potential of being a great band, so anything less than genius is unacceptable.
(21-41 34th Ave. #10A New York, NY 11106)
