Darlia – Candyman EP

A few months back, I was browsing the Indie Studio section of the AltWire forums in search for new music, and the band I found that day was British grunge three-piece Darlia. The band had just released the three-track Knock Knock EP (their first ever release) and that was all I listened to for the rest of that week. As a huge fan of grunge and punk-rock, I’m always really excited to find a new and fresh band in that genre, that also has a unique sound. It’s easy to compare every new grunge band to Nirvana and just write them off as another copycat, for good and obvious reasons, and even though you can hear a lot of Nirvana-influences in Darlia’s music, I feel that they have found their own sound. And that’s a sound I really enjoy.

The opening track and single “Candyman” is a huge grunge-explosion with vicious guitars and pounding drums. “So what’s it gonna be? You got me!” vocalist Natan Day howls during the chorus, and it is his amazing, melodic voice that makes the band become something more than just another Nirvana-clone. From the mellower and gentle verses to the huge, rocking choruses, his voice never lets up and just leaves you wanting more!

My personal favorite out of the three tracks was “Animal Kingdom”. A little less heavy and with hints of indie rock, this track contains the same amount of rawness and attitude as the first track, and probably has the catchiest chorus as well. The last track “Blood Money” kicks off with a catchy little guitar riff that soon goes into fast, rattling punk-rock that leaves you banging your head, giving you the feeling you’ve been immersed in a live show.

Overall this is a powerful set of songs, and the band feels very confident in their sound. The only real issue I have with this EP is the mixing. There’s a lot of elements going on in the songs, with lots of layered guitars and vocals happening at once, so much that sometimes it just sounds muddy and distracting. But other than that, it’s a really solid release and if you’re a fan of Nirvana or just grunge and punk-rock in general, be sure to check this band out. I’m looking forward to see a lot more from them in the future!