Deeper Into The Groove

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 12, 2008 3:38PM

It's utterly appropriate that Darker My Love is opening for The Dandy Warhols at The Vic tonight. Both bands share a love for all thing psychedelic and '60s, and both groups are handy at transforming drone into hooks. Darker My Love isn't as experimental as The Dandys, and they tend to stick within a single genre of music, but we don't mind that at all since it plays to their strengths.

Darker My Love's recently released sophomore effort, 2, is a big step forward from their debut and displays a band that has grown into its sound. The rhythms are groovier and the guitars are turned to 11 without ever threatening to overtake the mix, which is a pretty handy trick. The group has discovered expert ways to weave their obvious influences into their sound, for evidence of this check out the deliciously unholy mixture of The Beach Boys, My Bloody Valentine, and The Jesus and Mary Chain on "Two Ways Out." When we listen to that song we picture the beach on one of those freak of nature days where it's simultaneously sunny and raining.

Darker My Love plays with The Dandy Warhols and The Upsidedown tonight, September 12, at The Vic, 3145 N Sheffield, 8 p.m., $23, 18+

Photo from the band's MySpace page by Heather Culp