ALBUM REVIEWS
WASHINGTON POST "YOU CAN'T RESIST THEIR CHARMS. What makes these Tennessee women so refreshing is not their innovation but their memorable choruses. When "Wild One," their first single on their self-titled debut CD, begins, you may not know what to make of the ramshackle singing and guitar strumming, but you will soon get caught up in the trio's rambunctious enthusiasm. And when they get to the chorus, the twangy, melodic couplet "If you don't want a wild one, quit hanging 'round with me/You knew right from the start that's my personality" proves irresistibly infectious.
These three young women clearly love country music; they even include two Carter Family songs on the album. That love is full of irreverence, however, for they remake the Carters' "Who's That Knocking at My Window" as Joan Jett might and the Carters' "Cannonball Blues" as Wilco might. And when Those Darlins get autobiographical, they can turn the binge-eating confession "The Whole Damn Thing" or the drunken-driving confession "DUI or Die" into a bouncy, barroom singalong." -- Geoffrey Himes
KEXP "Too much alt-country (and the indie music scene in general, for that matter) is deadly serious – and deadly boring – but this Murfreesboro, TN trio sure knows how to have a good time. Those Darlins offer up a raw, fresh and irreverent countrified DIY sound informed by punk, rockabilly, ‘60s girl groups and other kinds of primal rock ‘n’ roll. Their remarkable debut album is loaded with fun, down-to-earth songs sung with lots of spunk and sass by three strong, self-assertive women having the time of their lives.” -Don Yates (KEXP)
ELLE “Honky-Tonk Angels: The June Carter Cash who hightailed it to Jackson and fell into that burning ring of fire would be proud of Those Darlins, three ladies from Tennessee who, on their self-titled debut, warn oncoming suitors that “if you can’t handle crazy/ Then go ahead and leave.” Their revved-up twang, played with a punk recklessness that’s fueled by whiskey and feminism-inspired whoop-ass, is a cause for celebration.” - Elle Magazine
NASHVILLE SCENE“If it ain't Michael Jackson or Those Darlins, it ain't news.” -Nashville Scene
Christopher Weingarten“Chicken-and-whiskey Carter Family harmonies distorted through Vivian Girl anti-hero gnash. (8/10)”- 1000 Times Yes
UNDER THE RADAR "Red Light Love," a swinging rock Lollipop with a twangy center.
PASTE“Top 20 Albums of the Year So Far”
MOTHER JONES“A raucous debut... Not a country music fan? This Nashville trio may change your mind.”
FLAGPOLE“Those Darlins fit somewhere between The Carter Family and Old Dirty Bastard.”
ROCK SELLOUT“When the daily grind wears you to a nub it's always nice to have a band like this to fall back on that delivers the goods.”
CREATIVE LOAFING “There's awesome trouble lingering in [Those Darlins'] allure.” - Chad Radford
THE TENNESSEAN“a thrilling swirl of reverent country songcraft, punk menace and ramshackle charm--” dave paulsen,
VENUS "For a band predominantly comprised of "darlins," their sound is not gracious for its Southern roots. It is, instead, simply refreshing."-Venus Magazine
BEST OF NASHVILLE & NEXT BIG NASHVILLE PICK "If history has taught us anything, it's that punk rock and old-time country music have more in common than anyone would have ever suspected. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., trio known as Those Darlins illustrate this truism. [They] banded together over their love of The Carter Family's deadpan, crazed music and bring an energy to live performance that recalls the antics of punk heroes such as The Cramps...If the folks who ran the Grand Ole Opry had any sense, Those Darlins would be hawking Goo Goo Clusters and stirring up audiences with originals such as "The Whole Damn Thing," a tale of unrepentant chicken-eating." -EDD HURT, Nashville Scene
NY TIMES PICK "This young country trio from Murfreesboro, Tenn., is a tangle of bare legs, cowboy boots and Southern sass. In defiance of its moniker, the band is resolutely unladylike: “I got drunk and I ate a chicken/I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen/Not just a leg and not just a wing/I’d like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing,” they yelp over acoustic guitar and mandolin. The band’s songs, which can be deliciously unserious, are as memorable as they are charming." -Amanda Petrusich, NY Times
PITCHFORK- Track Review - "Wild One"
"When Those Darlins sing "If you can't handle crazy go ahead and leave," they're not
crazy-talking the way Patsy Cline talked crazy-in-love, but insinuating
something darker and probably a lot more dangerous. The trio's sassy
Tennessee twang and nimble rockabilly swing, however, could have landed
them a regional radio showcase with Cline back in the day. Hey, they've
already opened for late-career Wanda Jackson in Nashville and, not to
whack the hornet's nest of authenticity or anything, make for more
legitimate heirs to the pioneering early rock queen's throne than any
country-punk act I can think of. First proper single "Wild One" is a brisk, breathless, three-minute drum, bass, and baritone ukulele romp of no-bullshit "my way or the
highway" declarations sung in slightly jaded three-part harmonies." — Amy Granzin
BOSTON GLOBE PICK: BAND SET TO BREAK IN '09
"Kelley, Jessi, and Nikki Darlin are a trio of smart, sassy 20-something chicks from Tennessee who combine vintage country charm with saucy rock attitude. These Dixie chicks even nicked a page from the Ramones playbook by adopting the surname Darlin. Great harmonies and fleet finger-picking round out their toe-tapping tunes about snaggle-toothed mamas, beer swilling, and chicken-eating."- Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe
BUST MAGAZINE - COOL EP ALERT
"Those Darlins' debut EP, Wild One, is a completely worthwhile tease. Each of the three songs is so full of energy and fun on its first meet that you hope and pray there was some sort of mistake and you are actually listening to a full-length album. The opener, also called WIld One, perfectly combines a '50s country twang with brassy vocals from bandmates Kelley, Jessi Darlin, and Nikki Darlin, while "Whole Damn Thing" has a kitschy variety-show feel as the girls sing about devouring an entire chicken while drunk. The EP closes with Snaggletooth Mama," a sadistic ode to country living in Tennessee, with jangly guitars and hollers in the background adding extra dome-home charm. Just one request: please, please, please send an EP soon!" -Meylinda Fuller
"I keep playing this video of “Wild One,” by Those Darlins, a band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The core of this song—independence and sweetness with strings attached, rendered in three-part harmony—sounds like a script for any successful Labor Day weekend. If your next three days can’t mimic this song, keep the tune in your head anyway. It will come in handy soon." -Sasha Frere-Jones (The New Yorker)
"Every decade or so a new group comes along that completely shakes up Nashville's dismissal of its hillbilly heritage and turns it upside down. Not since the phenomenon of the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack has a Nashville project had so much potential to bring hardcore country music to a trendsetting, young, broad-based musical audience. Those Darlins completely inhabit the deepest, raw roots of country music. But with primal charisma, musical chops, and easy confidence, they make these roots seem jarringly modern." -BMI
"Those Darlins rule! (T)his one really stands out to me. Get into the groove, it's infectious!" ---Tobi Vale (Bikini Kill/Kill Rock Star mo blog)
"Those Darlins - Murfreesboro's best band by a rather large stretch - encompass all that's good about old timey folk & roll without the unfortunate pitfalls of their more humorless, slavishly reverent, less adventerous contemporaries. Harry Smith woulda shit his pants." ---Wooden Wand/James Toth
“Three lovely ladies, guitars, velvet vocal harmonies and immeasurable quantities of what my dad would undoubtedly refer to as Tennessee moxie: these are not just a few of the ingredients that fuel Those Darlins' dirt-road, throwback country jams, they comprise a feminist cocktail of their own punky persuasion....put this (“Wild One”) on repeat and hang tight.“ -David Bevan (RCRDLBL.COM)
"The Carter Family slayin' 'em at The Cavern Club. Uh huh. Oh yeah." --Grimey's Music
"As much as country has influenced some of the music I tend towards I have never been a huge fan of the genre. Sure, I would dabble here and there with the likes of Willie Nelson and company but I've never given it much of a chance at all. I never really intended to change that but I was introduced to Those Darlins a couple of days ago and this is country I can get behind! Totally 2-step, a little rock, and maybe somewhat punk this trio of Southern belles is definitely pumping a sound that you don't find all that often. While most country acts have tended towards the poppier Dixie Chicks like sound lately these girls are fully embracing the sounds that came earlier. It's wildly fun to listen to and dancing around to it seems like a natural fit." --Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
"Those Darlins sound more like an indie-rock Carter Family tribute act than the Dixie Chicks. On this debut (?) EP, the band apes old-timey country and rockabilly with gusto, charm, and an utter lack of the self-righteousness that plagues so many (mostly male) alt-country types. Strummy acoustic guitars pour out over rough-and-tumble, slapdash percussion (credited instrument: "belly slaps"), while twangy lead vocals lead into girlishly modern group choruses. There are only three songs here, and every one connects. Grade: A-" Chris Herrington, Memphis Flyer
"It's hard enough to combine the contemporary and the traditional in a way that respects both; it's particularly hard to do so and come up with something fun. Maybe it's their sense of history, or maybe it's their sense of humor, or maybe it's just their plain old sense, but I'm getting a deeper and stronger vibe out of this trio than I get from most of the other brassy 20-somethings who've flung themselves onto the scene over the last year or two. Showing an awareness of a wide world beyond the tips of their own noses (or the touch screens of their iPhones) is way more enticing than being snarky and fashionable. At least it is here." -Fingertips Blog
"Together they helm an unruly marriage of ornery wit and traditional country sounds that come together with an indie rock M.O." --Chad Radford, Creative Loafing
"Those Darlins are no put on." --Bob Mehr, Commercial Appeal
Those Darlins are:
Kelley Darlin - Bass
Jessi Darlin - Guitar
Nikki Darlin - Baritone Ukulele
MANAGEMENT: JT Turner (jt@ohwowdang.com)
BOOKING: High Road (info@highroadtouring.com)
PUBLICITY: 230 publicity (lisag@230publicity.com)
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