Product Description

Their sophomore album is awash with the same feedback-filled guitars and pounding rhythms that made their debut a standout, with a newfound sense of melody. "2" demonstrates the band's love of fuzzy, reverb-laden rock 'n' roll and sunburned harmonies that stick in your head long after the needle has left the groove. It plays out like a musical odyssey complete with shimmering guitar anthems, blasts of buoyant pop, and a few surprises.

Track Listing

1. Northern Soul
2. Blue Day
3. Two Ways Out
4. Pale Sun
5. White Composition
6. Add One to the Other One
7. Even in Your Lightest Day
8. All The Hurry and Wait
9. Waves
10. Talking Words
11. Immediate Undertaking

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87379 in Music
• Released on: 2008-08-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .16 pounds

Customer Reviews

They've got me talking words
"If something looks familiar, something is wrong," Darker My Love inform us atop a dingy wash of fuzzbox slag paired to shimmery clean, 'shroomed-out arpeggios. Those familiar with psychedelia will immediately bond with their new record 2, which tightropes the line between sunny, harmonized Beatles pop ("White Composition") and the ever-present wall-of-sound distortion quilt so loved by shoegazers ("Two Ways Out," "Pale Sun"), swooning and occasionally falling completely into one or the other.

Enamoured less of the inscrutable haze of My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive, Darker My Love's hunger for noisy walls of sound strays closer to the Swervedriver school of shoegaze. Tracks like the pumping, organ-spattered, "American Woman"-ish "Blue Day" and its distorted swirl start things nice and loud, paving the road for spacier jams like the Pink Floyd meets The Doors echoes of "Add One To The Other One."

The band seem to be set on recording a '60s psych-rock primer for today's indie kids: later, "Waves" takes it to the other side with conjured images of flower children monkey-dancing on the set of a Speed Racer cartoon, while the standout scuzzy anthem "Talking Words" soars on booming, throaty fuzzchords, Creamy "woman tone" leads and resplendent waterfalls of organ.

A lustful attitude toward their fuzz pedals which swings between love and perversion, cloudy-behind-the-eyes lyrics and the very inclusion of a (well-utilized, for once!) organ all point to one thing: this is some peachy keen retro hippie rock. Extra rad points for the blooming harmonies, and for featuring vocals that actually take discernable form, shape and direction.

RIYL Secret Machines, The Misteriosos, drugs.

Trips for you
This is one of the best psychedelic albums I've heard since the sixties (yeah, I was around then and was listening to music too). I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this - some bands try to be a knockoff, but this is the real deal - I absolutely love the way "White Composition" floats - like a lazy sunny afternoon laying on a bank by a stream - this album is so evocative, it should be considered an instant classic (if there are any anymore). I have their earlier self-titled CD and this completely blows that out of the water. The way the tracks "All the Hurry & Wait" and "Waves" lead one into the other is like an incredible ride - the break coming out of All the Hurry & Wait is like "Okay, here we go ....let it ride baby" and it's a real pleasure. I've seen where some others compare this to Magical Mystery Tour - maybe - It has moments that remind me of the Moody Blues at times (White Composition especially), but the rest, well .. I love the Beatles too, but this isn't a knockoff like other bands - there may be some passages that are similar to some of the more psychedelic moments on Sgt Peppers or Magical Mystery Tour, but the Beatles - nope - it's Darker My Love and they kick it -- check this out if you're into acid psychedelic rock - this is one of the best ever.

Magical Mystery Return Tour!
Am I saying the New Darker My Love release "2" is Beatlesque? Um, hello, YES! But that is a very GOOD thing. I am of an age where, "are you a Beatles or a Stones fan?" meant something. Both bands were still releasing some of the best pop/rock music ever written.

Granted I was born in 1960 making me a young fan, but a fan none the less! And I was firmly in the Beatles camp. There was then, and still today, nothing like a Lennon/McCartney harmony - guitar hook - melody - you name it!

Sure there have been a lot of bands attempting to emulate the Fab Four. Many came very close. But for me the closest to date are the guys of Darker My Love. The writing team of Tim Presley and Rob Barbato anchor the band. I feel strongly the comparison between Lennon/McCartney and Presley/Barbato is valid.

My proof? Look no further than the Barbato penned "Two Ways Out" and Presley's "Talking Words." Two songs that are chock full of harmony - guitar hooks - melody. These are just two of eleven wonderful new tunes that make up this new record! While still fairly labeled as a neo-psychedelic band, there is much more here on "2."

If you're a fan of the wonderful, and growing, cache of new neo-psychedelic bands you really need this record. If you're a fan of the Fabs, once again you need this record. If you're a Stones fan, you too need this record.

Listening to the record is like stepping off of Jupiter and back on to the Magical Mystery Bus, chewing a few shroom's, motoring back to Earth and alighting in LA!