ALBUM REVIEW: “Pilot Machines” by Darlingside

Darlingside
Pilot Machines
[Planetary Group]

Darlingside proudly announces themselves as a string rock quintet hailing from Northampton, MA. String rock? What like, Andrew Bird with an edge? Well…yeah, kind of, but with 5 guys. Northampton is a crazy fun, free-thinking artsy college liberal enclave that seethes with ideas and energy and so does this group. Sam Kapla (drums), Don Mitchell (vocals and guitar), Anyon Mukharji (violin and mandolin), Harris Paseltiner (cello), and David Senft (bass) proclaim themselves “five songwriters…[with] a seamless, exhilarating sound at the intersection of rock, classical, and folk music.” We can dig it.

“Still” has pitch perfect harmonies, witty lyrics, and is totally a song we can hear playing in Faces as we shop. “The Company We Keep” is their take on folk music, banjo a’janglin. “My Love” is a weepy, beautifully composed song for the lonely.

Pilot Machines is their debut album following a very successful 6 track self-titled EP and they rolled it out as a subscription album. Subscribers did not have to wait to get this album in its entirety, they received 2 songs on specific release dates and the full album in their format of choice: digital, vinyl, or cd. Pretty nifty concept, if we do say so. We’ll be excited to see what rolls out next.