by Sheldon Birnie
Those Darlins are a group of three babes and one sweet dude who rock. The formula is sure fire – who doesn’t love babes? – but their output is above and beyond the pale.
The Hillbilly Highway is filled with groups with similar dynamics. Hell, Winnipeg itself is infested with successful groups of rootsy babes. But there’s more to kicking ass at every honky-tonk on the Hillbilly Highway than a pretty face or three. Those Darlins are different. Hard work, crotch punching songs and a bunch of hearts hungry for rock have combined: the result is an act to catch while you can.
Currently riding the road in support of their sophomore LP Screws Get Loose, the band is set to play in Minneapolis next week with the Drive-By Truckers, one of my favourite groups in the world. I am making the pilgrimage to Twin Cities, America to catch the gig, and I’d be a goddamn liar if I said I wasn’t pumped.
I’ve seen Those Darlins once before, in Winnipeg a couple years back, opening for King Khan & The BBQ Show at the Albert. The gig was bumping, and by the end the walls themselves were sweating. The Darlins got a typical Winnipeg response — favourable, yet tepid — from the crowd. I picked up their debut eponymous disc off them by the front door. When I got them to sign it, they drew a bunch of cocks and mustaches over their faces. These babes are the real deal.
Constantly touring, Those Darlins have found time to pump out a couple 7”s between albums, and release two videos for Screws Get Loose. Pretty dang impressive. The first vid, “Be Your Bro” is a crisp, sexy production, while “Screws Get Loose” makes you wonder what it was you just swallowed. How long will I feel this way?
Once, I had a dream I was married to one of Those Darlins. It was a whirlwind romance at a party in a duplex in some unidentified dingy neighbourhood. You could hear the trucks whine from the Highway. The air stank of exhaust, cigarettes and rotting trash. The party in our pad was raging, popcorn on the floor, beer everywhere. I went out looking for more whisky, and woke up sober and divorced.
Check in next week to the Hillbilly Highway see what’s next…