Demos

The Darlingtons - Glitch

Owain Paciuszko 04/11/2009

Rating: 4/5

With shimmering guitar the title track comes on like a distant relative of Echo and the Bunnymen echoing around a underground cavern, the song builds with The Cure-like craft into a spine-tingling and emotive number. It's also strangely refreshing to introduce them as a band from Taunton, Somerset; I don't know why I find that refreshing, I guess it's just a familiar name on the road signs from home! Anyway, back to the point, Kiran Roy has an impressive vocal that fits the chrome and despondency of their 80s drawn sound. For a five minute opener it all holds together beautifully.

Ten swaggers in with bluster and Kiran announces; 'Next time you won't be so lucky' with a slither of menace running through his voice. Chris Holmes' drums build with impending doom and the track takes a jagged left turn into twinkling, guitar territory with muddled success. Broken Wires does some interesting work with the vocals around the two minute mark, but it kind of blurs into the background in parts, which isn't to say it's bad, just it's pretty insipid.

Closing track Rainbows opens with ominous synths and a somewhat mournful vocal; lyrically it obscurely skirts around a number of concepts, throwing up intriguing imagery and references, my favourite being 'Richard of York gave battle in vain' just before the song kicks into a sound akin to the first rays of sunshine breaking through clouds after a rainstorm. It manages to rekindle the emotion that worked so well on the first track; 'Give me a chance to say goodbye.' are the records final words and despite the song promising a spine-tingling climax it's cut short at this point, wisely and sadly.

This little tease of an EP is a balanced see-saw, with the book-ends both wonderful and intriguing, whilst the middle competent and serviceable. But there is an undeniable wealth of talent here and this is definitely a band to keeps tabs on.