Dartz - The Sad History Of The Village Alnerique

have a great melodic easy listening sound, and if that isn’t descriptive enough imagine the raw-soft nature of Idlewild, elements of the changing spikes of Biffy Clyro, a good pinch of Death Cab for Cutie and a bit of Futureheads (meaning that you can add a bit of a skip to your wailing). Vocally they are softer than all these bands, the kind of music that draws you into the inner world of your sofa and sends you on a journey through the village of Alnerique itself. The album is only eight tracks long but some how it gets into your blood and yearns to be played over and over.

There is a touch of brilliance in their sound, the marching beat of ‘The Lay Of The Land’ makes the listener feel like a defiant revolutionary. Not all the tracks command this pace, ‘Embers’ is purely instrumental yet sits perfectly in the listing, probably because there is a touch of melancholy in the lyrics of ‘The Sad History Of The Village Of Alnerique’. Thankfully this does not lead to another dreaded terribly emo album purely because of the pace which keeps up an upbeat thread through-out although this is certainly not an album for those looking for disco-punk. The best genre to place it in would be post-punk emotive pop, it slips down comfortably yet there is an underlying angst (have a listen to ‘A New Venture From Mordecai & Sons’) which makes it endearing.