LA four piece Stone Darling are a shoegaze band with a hint of country. Or should I say a country outfit with shoegaze trimmings? It’s tough to say which genre is in the driving seat with this group, especially when their latest seven inch is split so squarely down the middle. “I Stopped Missing You Today”, all buzzing guitars and understated vocals, is pretty much straight up shoegaze, a catchy number that’s really shaped by the one clear guitar line that does pierce the mix. Flip over to side two, though, and things are a little different: “Angeline” is all country, from the thematically familiar lyrics, “you were so pretty when you were sixteen…time sure is mean”, right down to the way the titular girl’s name is drawled out in the opening line, like an extended sigh.
I guess it’s only right that this two-track release should showcase both sides of the band, even if it would have been nice to hear them slightly better integrated. Still, both are sweet tracks with touches that’ll put a smile on any rock fan’s face: forceful opening drums on “I Stopped Missing You Today” had me half expecting Aerosmith’s “Jaded” to blast out of my speakers, while the gentle outro to “Angeline” is pretty much a slowed down, softened version of the instrumental outro to “It’s All Over Now” by The Rolling Stones.
Besides this 7″, Stone Darling have one other track that has to be shared, a cover of Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That“. Now, this is one of my favourite songs from one of everyone’s favourite funk albums, “Maggot Brain”, and I sure wasn’t expecting some genre-confused outfit like this to knock it out of the park with a cover, but Stone Darling have managed it. Staying pretty true to the vocals of the original but giving the instrumentation a definite country twang, the song is familiar yet fresh. And that’s pretty much what Stone Darling are too: there’s nothing revolutionary about their sound, but it’s still mighty pleasant to listen to.
Stream “I Stopped Missing You Today” and “Angeline” via the bandcamp link and, more importantly, follow this link to Analog Edition Records, a new vinyl label formed by Matt Carr from another great music blog called Everybody Taste, to pick up a limited edition, white vinyl print of the 7″. Download “Can You Get To That” below.
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