ALBUM REVIEW: Darwin Deez ‘ST’

Darwin Deez
Darwin Deez
Lucky Number Music – Feb. 22, 2011

The time has come. Darwin Deez’s (AKA Darwin Smith) self-titled album finally comes home. Having been released in the UK almost a year ago, we can finally enjoy Deez’s delicious brand of pop-yummy goodness for ourselves.

The ingredients for any good pop-song are quite simple: take a good catchy melody, add some simple yet identifiable lyrics and you’ve got yourself a solid pop-song. Deez does all this but with a twist. Catchy singles “Constellation” and “Radar Detector” will get even the most jaded bobbing their heads from side to side, but if you really absorb the lyrics you’ll be able to discern a few dark clouds from all the sunshine.  Paradoxically, Deez’s darker themed songs such as “The Bomb Song” about the aftermath of some nuclear disaster and “The Suicide Song” (no explanation necessary) dark as their themes may be, have a bit of a silver lining if you listen closely.

At less than 33 minutes the album takes you on a fantastic pop pleasure and pain (mostly pleasure) trip that will leave you wanting more of Deez. I can’t wait to see Smith in all his hipster/bad-perm/mustachioed glory perform these songs in the flesh.