The Darts - Halloween Love Songs (Adrenalin 
Fix Recordings)
Release Date: Out Now
This album feels like it has been released at entirely the wrong time of year but maybe the idea is to slow burn the songs in the run up to October. Either way, the new album 'Halloween Love Songs' from Seattle outfit the Darts is a lot of fun so you should make time for it. We get the spooky party started with 'Midnight Creep', a song that opens with a music box melody before a throbbing, dirty bass and the clatter of the band join in for a garage punk rock romp. Then comes a scream and the hypnotic organ riff of 'Zombies On The Metro' and you can almost see the Go-Go dancers trying to keep their beehives balanced on their heads.
The energy is frantic and frenetic on 'Blood Run Cold' while 'Vampires In Love' has a real Munsters meets the Addams family in a dance off vibe to it that is hypnotically irresistible. 'Dream Ghost' is a heavier and more desperate sound but 'Every Night Is Halloween' has a jazz beat at its heart with a finger clicking, switchblade energy oozing out between the drums, organ, guitars and bass. The straight up rock'n'roll of 'Apocalypse' is as intense and screamy as they come but 'The Devil Made Me Do It' has a more Strokes meets Hives vibe in the guitars but only if they invited the daughters of Ertha Kitt to have the final say.
The premise of this album is to inject some energy into the faded and dated Halloween song market and tracks like 'Darkness' do that brilliantly with eery keys and menacing bass notes. The bass of Lindsay Scarey takes centre stage again on the breathless 'Up In My Soul' before 'Haunt Me' slows things down to sound like a mix of the Bangles, B52s and Roxette all jamming just as the sun comes up on November 1st. Penultimate track 'Shadow' has a slick 80s vibe to the guitars but with a wild-west swagger leading into the closing number, 'Late Drive', the sound of coming down off a bad trip in the back of your friend's car. If nothing else, this album should make you want to dress head to toe in black, book tickets for Seattle in October and revel in the spookier side of music with some of the coolest people currently making music.
More information: https://www.instagram.com/thedartsus
Live Dates:
3.26 Lille - Bistrot de ST SO
3.27 Amiens - Péniche Celestine
3.28 Lauzach - Festival Bouge Ton Cube
3.29 Rouen - Fury Défendu
3.30 Saint-Étienne - Entre Pots Cafe
3.31 Dijon - Les Tanneries
4.01 Clermont-Ferrand - Le Fotomat
4.02 Orléans - O’Patio Défi
4.03 Vitré - Very Rock Trip Party
4.04 Montaigu - Le Zinor
4.05 Bordeau - Les Vivres de L’Art