Those Darlins not to be taken lightly

February 14th, 2010 | By Carolin Scholz | Section: Arts

This Saturday, country is coming to Grinnell and it is bringing some punk.
Those Darlins, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. will play in Grinnell’s Gardener Lounge at 9 p.m.
The band, made up of Kelley Darlin, the group’s bassist, Jessi Darlin, who plays the guitar, and Nikki Darlin, baritone ukulele player—no they are not related—went live for the first time in 2006. Since then, numerous live gigs have followed known to be both entertaining and, sometimes, a little bit booze-fueled. Their 2010 tour leads them not only out of the South and to Grinnell, but also to way up north to places such as Providence, Rhode Island and Montreal, Quebec.
Perhaps the most unusual thing about the band is that each member writes and sings. This unusual spread may explain why their music cannot be clearly defined. Darlins are sometimes referred to as a pop band, even though their music cannot be limited to this or any other genre. More than country or pop alone, their style can be described as somewhere in between—with a little bit of punk.
The music may sound a little like country to the angry, but their lyrics are much tougher and their concerts, more often than not, rowdier than a country genre might give them credit for. Even so, there’s a risk of repetitiveness here, as some of the songs sound strikingly like the one before.
The chief success of their small Nashville label, Oh Wow Dang, Those Darlins will definitely get people to move to their music, since the band’s lyrics are generally hilarious. The trio sings about feminism, strong women in their lives, rural life and poverty but also about equally important topics, such as eating the “whole damn thing” of chicken.
Eager to try before you buy? To get a taste of what exactly their music sounds like the first single “Wild One” is available for free download on their website—www.thosedarlins.com