ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Darkpines

Photo credit: courtesy of the artist

Darkpines is the independent music project of songwriter and producer Zach Dow, an eclectic mix of sounds that moves between electronic, alternative, rock and beyond. From the beat-driven energy of A VOICE COMES OVER THE SEA to the raw edge of BEASTS and the place-rooted storytelling of THE POCO PACK, Darkpines isn't afraid to push musical boundaries.

Recent coverage includes airplay and an interview on Jim Price's Homegrown Rocker, and several appearances on WPSU's The Local Groove.

Why do we love it? Darkpines sent us two submissions, the single LIKE ALWAYS and the album THE POCO PACK. I started with LIKE ALWAYS, and it's a 90s sparkly situation, could totally picture it in a 90s movie like 10 Things I Hate About You, a montage of cute shit. I really like them, it is so M83 / MGMT coded... Or at least, that is what we thought.

Then I put on THE LUDWIG LANE CRASHOUTS from the album, and that's the one that hooked me like a fish. This was meant to be a short feature on just the song that caught my ears, but I couldn't do it. I had to hear the whole album, so here are my notes, written as I listened.

Back to track one. VIDEO VALLEY (IT'S JUST TAKE TWO, BABY) feels like the start of summer time, just before the weather breaks into proper heat on your skin. Even though the lyrics actually talk about snow, I can't get cold from the song at all. The guitar is bright, and there's almost an ungraspable nostalgia in it. Stunning opening.

Heard in order, THE LUDWIG LANE CRASHOUTS brings the nostalgia back, which might well be the full album theme, and the M83 and MGMT in the vocals hold fast through the whole thing.

I REMEMBER CHERRY SPRINGS BEFORE IT WAS COOL has a jingle that I just associate with Christmas music, which isn't Darkpines' fault, that's just my own memories having an impact here. One of the lines: "I'm hoping someday that we can go back." I'll apply that everywhere like a balm for the rest of the day.

NOTHING NAME, and I'll tell you something for nothing, if I heard this out in a field somewhere, that is how I'd accidentally end up in a cult... Musically we're well into folky layers, flutes, there is probably a margarine tub with no lid and seven elastic bands on it somewhere, in fact give me a tambourine I'm all in.

It strikes me, pretty hard actually, how human the music is. What I mean by that is the lyrics are soft, meaningful and seem so highly personal. But the instrumentals bring you to a place in childhood that you both were and weren't. MY INSIDES FEEL BIG (MAMA SAID) is probably one of the gentlest and sweetest songs I have heard in a while.

And by the way, the visuals that go along with all of these, the Spotify canvases, are so well chosen.

I'm offended that no one has heard this to tell me about it. I'm deeply in love with the fact I can hand this around now to more people.

I want to touch on the track order, this would be a no skip and no shuffle for me. Streamed or vinyl wouldn't matter, it feels like a story, a piece of life stitched together through music.

IT'S 5:02 (IN THE BASEMENT) doesn't have a lot of lyrics, but "I hope I see you soon" combined with the deep drums sits in the bottom of my little heart a bit too easy for a Thursday morning. And maybe this speaks to what I meant about the curation, MAGIC VALLEY SKATE holds your hand, pulls you out of the basement and preps you for the back end of the album.

Realistically, when I read the lyrics in GOOD TIME PHONE LINE, it reminds me of Noah Kahan, bringing in such personally specific places and numbers that you get a view into the artist's life, or at least you feel like you do, and yet I don't know where any of this is. But it doesn't matter, not at all. The keys on I GOT YOU feel very forward, and the harmonica. Oh the harmonica.

And that brings us to SOMETHING FOR POCO. I can't help but relate to much of it, and I think anyone who grew up and then moved away will understand "'cause it's all different, but it's the same here". To me, this is the feeling of going back to where you came from, and while much never changes it is somehow not the place you once lived in. It is a strange feeling, and the anchor in all of that is the friends who really never left. Knowing a landline number now is something spectacular indeed.

All in all, and without gushing about it too much, this is the kind of album that reminds me how beautiful and simple music can be. It gives me a hope for the future of music and maybe more than all of that, excitement that there are people out there who are making it.

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  • Genre: Alternative, electronic, indie rock

  • From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

  • Previous release: THE POCO PACK