Crib Notes

Mon., Jan. 11. Adam Franklin (Swervedriver) & Bolts of Melody, Howlies and the Diamond Center. $10. 8:30 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950.

Mon., Jan. 11. Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa $38 (adv). $40 (door). $55 (VIP tix include sound check and poster). Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. 404-524-7354.

Wed., Jan. 13. East Ponce Soul Faction. $8 (adv). $10 (door). 8 p.m. (early show). Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522.

Thurs., Jan. 14. Little Tybee, Adam Arcuragi, Adron Atlanta’s Little Tybee crafts soft, experimental chamber pop that stirs and sputters amidst lush string, drum, piano, electronic arrangements over blissfully fey ruminations. Philadelphia-based folky Adam Arcuragi sings and strums with elation and longing in equal measure. Local songstress Adron closes with her signature laid-back fairy tale pop croon and faux Flamenco stylings. $7. 8:30 p.m. The Earl. 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950.

Thurs., Jan. 14 The Long Shadows, It’s Elephants, Street Violence. Free. 8 p.m. (early show). Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.

Thurs., Jan. 14. Jemina Pearl (Formerly of Be Your Own Pet), the Ettes. $10. 9 p.m. The Drunken Unicorn, 736 Ponce de Leon Place.

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UPDATE: We have a winner!!! John Couture of La Vergne, TN hit us up with the answer, “Wild One.”

Murfreesboro, Tenn., quartet Those Darlins are heading over to McMinnville this Sat., Sept. 26 to play a show in Cumberland Caverns, which you may remember from the historic final Silver Jews show that happened there back in February.

Those  Darlins will be joined by the legendary country singer Charlie Louvin. Tickets are $20 ($30 gets you a discounted cave tour with your ticket), but CL has a pair tickets to give away to the first person to e-mail the correct response to the following question:  What Darlins’ song was written in response to Charlie Louvin’s classic “You’re Running Wild Again”?

Send your answers to Crib Notes by Fri., Sept. 25.

(Photo courtesy Those Darlins)

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“Red Light Love” is the lead track from Those Darlins’ self-titled debut LP/CD released earlier this year on their Oh Wow Dang imprint. The ladies from Murfreesboro, Tenn., are so often mislabeled a country act, but not without warrant. There is a hint of country-fried charm in their licks, but “Red Light Love” is a concise pop charge that swings with straight-up power pop attitude.

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Who are you?
Songwriter/front fellow, Chickens and Pigs.

Describe yourself in three words.
Animal Planet survivor.

Who — dead or alive — would you most like to meet?
Charlie Patton. He used to only eat fat meat at juke joints so he wouldn’t get too drunk to play. Also seemed to hang out with a bunch of cool musicians.

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
You put the u in douchebag.

What song do you wish you had written?
“Little Debbie Wedding (oh wait, I already did). First runner-up: “Beast of Burden.”

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Presley, singing “Pump it up.”

LP, CD or MP3?
CDs make the best beer coasters. LPs melt in the sun best. You can fit more mp3s in a fish.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
More topless girls at Chickens and Pigs shows.

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Trends.

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Those Darlins.

“Little Debbie Wedding” mp3

Chickens and Pigs plays the Drunken Unicorn on Thurs., June 25 with Those Darlins, the Electric Cycles and Myopic I. $7. 9 p.m.

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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The inner-sleeve of Those Darlins’ self-titled debut CD features a noir-ish black and white photo of three ladies — Nikki, Jessi and Kelley Darlin — huddled in a corner at some dive bar, drinks half-drunk. Each one of them looks like a rural siren, brandishing poker faces at once devious and doe-eyed.

There’s awesome trouble lingering in the allure of the Murfreesboro, Tenn., trio’s rollicking country and rock ’n’ roll numbers that seethe with emotional twang and rich tales of debauchery in the wilds of middle Tennessee.

The group’s dichotomy is best illustrated in the opening line of their lament to being reckless women, “Wild One.” Vocalist and ukulele strummer Nikki Darlin sweetly croons, “I may be a little darling gal of yours/That’s when I’m straight and sober and both feet are on the floor/But sometimes when the booze gets a hold of me/I get the devil in my eyes and I’m running wild and free.”

Continue reading “Those Darlins ain’t another country chick band”

(Photo by Travis Huggett)

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The three little ladies who make up Murfreesboro, Tenn. trio Those Darlins kick out an awful lot of twang with their debut, three-song EP, “Wild One.” Together they helm an unruly marriage of ornery wit and traditional country sounds that come together with an indie rock M.O.

I caught up with guitarist and vocalist Jessi Darlin last week and talked about everything from the old Nashville music scene to the production on the new Vampire Weekend album.

Those Darlins play the Earl w/ O’death and Vortex Park on Tues., Dec. 2nd. $10. 9 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

Is Wild One EP your first release?
Yes. It’s our first release. The other songs on the Myspace page are just older recordings. Live stuff and things that we just have.

Are you all from Murfreesboro , Tenn. or did you come there from somewhere else?
We all live in Murfreesboro now. I’m from Kentucky, Kelley’s from South Carolina and Nikki is from Virginia. Kelly went to college here and me and Nikki just kind of moved here and we all met … It has one of the top recording schools in the country, so a lot of musicians move here who know that they’re supposed to go to college but don’t know what to major in beside music, so they move here and do that.

Who plays what in the band?
I play guitar and bass, Kelley plays guitar and bass and Nikki plays some baritone Ukulele and we all sing.

And you are all Darlins, like the Ramones or something?
Yep, exactly.

Who’s your drummer?
Linwood Regensburg Jr. He’s our roommate.

Are there many places to see music in Murfreesboro?
Off and on … There have been some really awesome venues that have opened here, but they all end up getting shut down for a million different reasons. This town is cursed like that. But whenever something good opens the town has a ton of incredible bands coming through. Currently there aren’t any music venues open.

Is there a good house show scene?
Definitely. There are always house shows here. Whenever a venue closes down someone will just start booking at their house until someone else comes up with enough money to get another venue open.

Tell me about the EP and the full-length that you’re working on now.
We recorded the EP in Brooklyn and the album in Brooklyn, so we’ve been playing New York a lot. We’re recording with Jeff Curtin who has a studio, called Tree Fort. He helped produce Vampire Weekend’s debut album and he does all the sound for Pitchfork TV.

darlins from t.v. on Vimeo.

“Wild One” MP3

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For today’s Roll Call we call out Nikki Darlin, vocalist and Ukelele player for Murfreesboro, Tenn. country trio Those Darlins.

Who are you?
The infamous Nikki Darlin.

Describe yourself in three words.
magic, drunk, smashy.

Who — dead or alive — would most you like to meet?
The Marx Brothers. The best entertainers of all time without a doubt!

Whom would you most like to slap in the face?
There are so many I don’t know where to start, mostly old smart ass men (not in the funny way) who are condescending creeps to young women like myself and the rest of the Darlins.

What song do you wish you had written?
“Awesome” by Nick Lowe

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Elvis Costello winked at me on a plane, Presley didn’t. I’d rather flirt with Presley. He makes me shake my ass harder than Costello.

LP, CD or MP3?
LP! I throw CDs around like trash and I can’t throw mp3s so I don’t bother with them.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Back to the basics. Leather, furs, bones and feathers.

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Beards.

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
All the Marx Brothers. It wouldn’t be sexy at all but would probably be the most hilarious spin the bottle ever.

Those Darlins play the Earl w/ O’death and Vortex Park on Tues., Dec. 2nd. $10. 9 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

(Photo courtesy of Oh Wow Dang Records)

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