The Darkside – All that Noise

My first experience of The Darkside was watching the Brit Awards in either 90 or 91. It was the one where Jonathan King proclaimed his fondness of Carter USM. The Darkside appeared in a Live Music Weekend type event. It was a 10 second clip of them and I was blown away. While the other shoegazers were gangling away The Darkside were going for the audio jugular.

The two main members of The Darkside cut their teeth with Spacemen 3 which is a apprenticeship to be proud of, otherwise band members changed constantly. They were like a 90s indie version of The Doors, with a bit of Jimi Hendrix which is not bad. This adds to the psychedelic feel of their work. This is psychedelic in a garage rock way, rather than floaty and trippy.

It was a miracle that All that Noise was recorded with the constant lineup changes, but the instability does not show in the album. Opening with an instrumental is quite daring, but Guitar Voodoo is a perfect start to the album. A slow drum shuffle and rumbling bassline with jangly guitar riffs that build up to a heavy stoned out sonic wah. Found Love sounds triumphant, you can really feel the ecstatic emotion in it. The other standout psychedelic tracks are Waiting for the Angels and All that Noise.

The Darkside : All that Noise
http://www.mediafire.com/?z9lmh65px80827l