Darlington

Sex (FastMusic)
by Scott Hefflon

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a total sucker for Darlington‘s sweet flavor of mid-’90s punkpop about girls (think Descendent’s “Silly Girl,” not The Ataris or some Drive-Thru band), but someone really needs to advise Chris/Christy on which songs to spotlight and which songs to hang onto for the complete discography (aka skip). And which songs he should re-record, hitting more of the notes, and which he should have produced all slick and purty. Like mid-’90s Screeching Weasel and The Queers, the bubblegum punk is irresistible, naively sweet and perfect, and the rest of the task is honing in on the best songs and spending the time and bucks to make ’em shine. While I hate to be one who gripes that they like the old stuff better, Girltroversy was a near-perfect album (for Darlington or anyone else), and every other release since has been judged based on how close it comes to that gem.
(www.fastmusic.com)