I've always been a sucker for a good hootenanny. I even just love that word: hootenanny. Go ahead - repeat it a few dozen times and tell me you ain't a-grinnin'. Well, if there's one to be had out there nowadays, Those Darlins from Murfeesboro, TN might just be the gals to hoot it. Hands down one of my favorite finds from this year's SXSW, the three girls formed a unified front at the edge of the staged, be-frilled with multi-chromatic bloomers, boots, strumming acoustic instruments, and cheeky vocals. In a town overflowing with big-ticket major label bands that have busted the indie mold of SXSWs of yore, Those Darlins reminded that bigger isn't always better. Their songs are like front-porch backwoods jams filtered through a tough-talkin' Southern female aesthetic that goes all the way back to Prohibition. They sing about "Snaggle-toothed Mamas" and wild drunken women, put to a driving jamboree beat that makes you wanna lift your knees and slap along.*
My favorite song is called "The Whole Damn Thing" which is about eating the leftovers of a chicken of questionable vintage. "I got drunk and I ate a chicken," they sing, "I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen. Not just a thigh and not just a wing. I'd like to let you know I ate the whole damn thing." Reminds me a lot of the handful of times I've fallen asleep in the middle of a drunken Hot Pocket feast, only to find it laying limp on my chest when I wake up in the morning. They sound like my kinds of ladies.
They can be found on myspace at :
www.myspace.com/darlins
And their debut EP, "Wild One" is available on iTunes, with a debut full length album to appear in July.
*Knee-slapping was aided in part by the free Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka available at the SXSW day show they played. Fittingly paired, and simultaneously delicious.
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