Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Dark Blue : "Victory is Rated"


The resonate vocals of John Sharkey of Clockcleaner fame are the first things that once again catch me with this band. The band also features former members of Ceremony, though these guys have such a warm melodic feel to their moodiness it is hard to hear those punk roots. They continue to get right what most post-punk revival bands miss.The second song finds them coming closer to a more rock style not unlike the louder moments of Interpol. The chords to "Let Me Tell You a New Story" ring out in a Smiths like fashion. Sharkey does croon more, though is far from Morrissey when it comes to emoting. What they do have in common with Moz is putting melancholy lyrics with more upbeat music to create an interesting juxtaposition.

"Midnight Moon" is more straight forward and has a rock n roll heart beat to it. The vocals kind of coast, while they fall on the right places , I don't find them as compelling as they were earlier in the album so guitar solos try to compensate. "She Loves Me " has more of a power pop feel to it's bigger chords. "Different World' is smoother than the bulk of the songs on the album, which begin to take a bouncy jerk in their syncopation as the album progresses which songs like "Mrs. John" is a testament to. This kind of syncopation is toned done for "Looking For You" It's kind of an anti climatic ending for this album but it is a good song, so hard to argue against.

I will give this album a 9. It's not as dark as their previous album and has more of a 90s rock n roll feel with tinges of Brit pop around the edges.If you are tired of countless post punk bands that are rehashing the same old Joy Division tribute and are not afraid of something with a little more rock n roll to it then this album is worth you time.

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