Album Review: Those Darlins – Those Darlins

Rick, I think you might really like some of their not-as-loud songs (the Uncle Dave cover, “Wild One,” and “Mama’s Heart” come to mind, though there’s one or two others).

And there are more than a few TD fans “of a certain age,” so don’t even try that excuse ;-) As a matter of fact, when I saw them live, I gave up my barstool to a white-haired old lady who seemed to be a big fan.

Yeah…’cause Juli clearly doesn’t like country music.

*Or, should it be “none of us does”?

I miss Bikini Kill. Bratmobile too.

Jon, I love how you can go on and on in other comment threads about how diverse the origins and styles of country music truly are and how no one is allowed to say that certain acts (like Keith Urban) arent country because they are marketed as country acts and country is this big melting pot and blah blah blah. Now, this isnt “country enough” for you…interesting.

fair enough…i stand corrected.

An object lesson in the way folks read into what’s written. Where and how do Those Darlins sound like the Carter Family? They may love ‘em, they may do their songs, but they really don’t sound much like them at all, do they? Nor Hank Williams either. Which is what – and all – that I said about that.

But my point, admittedly elliptical, was that in the meantime, there are sure to be Those Darlins fans here and elsewhere who will continue to sneer at country music which is certainly no farther away from the Carters and Williams – say, 80s arena rock-influenced or pop-influenced country – as “country for people who don’t like country music” (in other words, to use it as a “that ain’t country” criticism), because *those* influences aren’t from the kinds of musics that they favor. And they’ll do it without the slightest sense of irony or self-awareness.

Note to Kelly: look at their website, particularly their bio, and and then tell me whether you think they’re being marketed as a country act.

“Note to Jon: Much of the time, “marketing” isnt what the band describes itself as”

Actually, that’s pretty much what “marketing” means. “Marketing” indicates intent, and when a product marketed to one market gets picked up in another, like a medication developed and marketed for one purpose that winds up being prescribed for another, that’s noteworthy in and of itself. And besides, what do “roots-oriented blogs” have to do with country music? ;-)

“everything is country because its just a big happy melting pot, right?”

Uh, no. Wrong.

Jon: Juli only said that Nikki’s voice sounded vaugely like Sarah Carter’s in places and it does. She also said that they are derived from old time country and they do use a number of the same melodies.

Its not really well hidden though. The tracks I downloaded have that overall vibe and intrumentation. They have the same kid of love and feel for old country that OCMS does.

What is this arguing about?
These girls are three COUNTRY girls making music about being COUNTRY. Their songs are simple and direct like both Hank and the Carters and the fact that they are not either a novelty band or a band afraid to admit other influences makes them the most inspiring country band at the present.

Jon, have you even listened to the whole record from start to finish?

Iggy and the Stooges made music that was simple and direct, but they weren’t an old-time country group, nor did they sound like Hank Williams or the Carter Family. On the other hand, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones use a banjo in just about everything they do, but they aren’t an old-time country group either, nor do they sound like Bill Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs. Taylor Swift uses more banjo on her records than Those Darlins, but she’s not an old-time country artist, nor does she sound like Hank Williams or the Carter Family, either. Instrumentation in and of itself is far too frail a reed on which to hang any kind of substantive similarity, and the same is true with melodies. “Projection” is still the right word to use here. People who claim that an act like Those Darlins or Old Crow Medicine Show or Devil Makes Three are making music that’s related to old-time country music have at most a cursory acquaintance with the latter, which is why words like “feel” and “vibe” crop up so often.

I think folks are missing the point…also, when “feel” and “vibe” are removed from musical analysis is the day the music dies.

Jon: That is a simplistis way of looking at instrumentation, and ignores the fact that Ralph Stanley is an inspiration for Bela Fleck.

You can look at the overall instrumentation instead of hinging everything on a single instrument.

Stormy: “You can look at the overall instrumentation instead of hinging everything on a single instrument.”

Uh, sure. Carter Family: 1 acoustic guitar+1 autoharp or 2 acoustic guitars. Those Darlins: 1 electric guitar+1 electric bass+1 baritone ukelele +1 drum kit. Where exactly do you see the similar instrumentation that leads to a similar sound? Hank Williams & The Drifting Cowboys: 1 acoustic guitar+1 electric guitar+1 upright bass+1 fiddle+1 non-pedal steel guitar. Same question.

Chris N., I know you would never confuse Earl Scruggs with Ralph Stanley, and I’m betting you wouldn’t say that the Flecktones sound like Lester and Earl, either.

I am pretty sure that even Kant would disagree with the idea that feel or vibe are not a part of the analysis of art.

Jenni, tossing Kant’s name into the discussion doesn’t really help. If I feel that the vibe of Those Darlins’ music is similar to that of Bach’s “Wedge,” does that mean that their music is similar, or that a resemblance couldn’t properly be called well-hidden? Would you have learned something useful, or even accurate about their music as a result?

Chris, yeah, a banjo sounds like a banjo, at least sort of. But I dare you to tell me with a straight face that the Flecktones sound much like the Clinch Mountain Boys.

Stormy, your argument is circular. You claim that the overall sound of Those Darlins resembles that of the Carter Family or Hank Williams – who, BTW, don’t sound very similar to one another at all – because of the instrumentation, and then, when asked to explain how 2 almost completely sets of instruments sound similar, lean on the “overall sound” as evidence.

I don’t believe that any of you, with the possible exception of Chris N., have much of an idea about what old-time country music in general, or the Carter Family in particular, sounds like. You like the *idea* of a self-described pop/rocker/riot grrl/cowpunk group sounding like old-time country music, but the idea and the reality are two different things.