Jake Carlsen over at Live Music PDX posted a review of our record Nice Nice. Check it out -
If you weren't already planning on it, Nice Nice from Oh Darling is an album that you are going to want to get your hands on come September 16th.
As will be almost definitely mentioned in the shortly coming article over their live performance, these guys are just simply superb.
I'm calling this my new “inspirational album”. My wife and I have been playing this album pretty constantly over the last couple of weeks, and we just can't help but smile at certain tracks like Hey.Stay.Wait.Explode! or even break out in spontaneous dancing to BirdBrained.
It's easy to understand if you take a listen. Nice Nice is filled with great, poppy, upbeat, kick off your shoes and let your toes start dancing and thumping tracks.
Every time I start up one of the songs, either my wife or myself will pronounce that this is our favorite song, and with time now gone past I think we have both now announced just about every single song on the album as a huge personal favorite, if not the greatest song on the entire album.
Lead singer, Jasmine Ash, has this oh-so-girly voice that carries all the songs into a hypnotic playful state, infusing everything with a sense of glee and innocence backed by the instrumental gifts of the guitarist, Daven who provides a refreshing performance through out the album, and let's not forget the talented and lively bass renditions provided by J.Marie. I can honestly tell you that I don't normally take the time to pick out the bass lines in a song very often, but on songs like Electrocute, you can't help but sit and take notice.
All in all, these guys boast a very bright sound that seems to be taking off across the Portland Music Scene. While I can't say that this mix of bright-eyed/very effeminate type of singing mixed with good clean and cheerful instrumentals is normally my cup of tea...mostly because many times it is done to the point of distraction and loses it's charm, Oh Darling makes it work in a rare and truly enjoyable way.
These guys have elevated themselves, in my eyes, to being a true asset in the local music scene. A show that everyone should take the time to see, and a CD that will find a permanent home in your iPod as there is no such thing as a mood that this album won't play to.
With no hesitation, I give Nice Nice 5 Maple Bacon Bars. Keep your eyes open for this album as I can't recommend it highly enough.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Oh Darling + The Wizard
Great show last night at the Silverlake Lounge, thanks to all of you who made it out!
At the moment we are in the lobby of the Culver Hotel just across the street from MGM Studios where they filmed one of our favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz. Turns out the hotel was home to many of the cast and the 124 "little people", legend has it that a secret underground tunnel was built to usher the munchkins to the set. So we are going to take our drinks, snoop around and find that damn tunnel.
Miss you,
the darlings
At the moment we are in the lobby of the Culver Hotel just across the street from MGM Studios where they filmed one of our favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz. Turns out the hotel was home to many of the cast and the 124 "little people", legend has it that a secret underground tunnel was built to usher the munchkins to the set. So we are going to take our drinks, snoop around and find that damn tunnel.
Miss you,
the darlings
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Oh Darling + Los Angeles
We are back in Los Angeles for the week.
If you are free on Tuesday the 19th come on down to the Silverlake Lounge and check out the show, we play around 10 pm.
xo,
the darlings
If you are free on Tuesday the 19th come on down to the Silverlake Lounge and check out the show, we play around 10 pm.
xo,
the darlings
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Oh Darling - Thanks & Updates
Pretty great last two weekends here in Portland, we played at the Someday Lounge and The Doug Fir. Thanks to Inger for the cool shots at the Someday with The Department.
Thanks to all of you who made it out, you are the best! We are heading back to Los Angeles for some shows and general good times later this week.
In other Oh Darling news our debut record Nice Nice is being released worldwide on September 16th! We are working with an amazing new label out of LA called Creative Works Records. We are all very exited, stay tuned for more details.
xo,
the darlings
Friday, August 8, 2008
Oh Darling + Portland Vanguard
Thanks to the Portland Vanguard for the great piece on the band. Here it is for you to check out.
Portland's Oh Darling Makes With Cute.
by Richard D. Oxley
Oh Darling has made the most of their two years in the City of Roses.
Capitalizing on a wealth of adorable melodies and a healthy propensity for matching outfits, the group has scored themselves a recording deal with Los Angeles-based Creative Works Records and a healthy local following to endorse their speedy rise to prominence.
The band consists of Oregon natives J. Marie Hall on bass, Jasmine Ash on vocals and keyboards, Jake Endicott on drums and Daven Hall on the guitar.
On Sept. 16 they will be releasing their debut album, Nice Nice, on Creative Works and in the meantime you can catch them playing at the Doug Fir on Aug. 9.
The Vanguard was recently able to catch up with the group, by means of the Interweb, to ask them a few questions which they happily answered en masse with a wealth of excellent information.
Richard D. Oxley: Where did the name come from?
Oh Darling: We came up with a list of about 20 names that we put together by adding random words from books we had laying around. Stuff like, "Honey Comb and The Wolf," "Sound Fight" or "When a Bee Flew." All pretty bad. Oh Darling was on the list, we all thought it fit what we were doing. So it stuck, our name is not taken from the Beatles song.
RO: Who is who in the band, personality wise?
OD: Well the three of us, J. Marie, Daven and Jasmine, all live together and drummer Jake lives in the house directly behind us. So, we spend pretty much all of our time together, which is really conducive for lots of songwriting and tons of hanging out together. We're really lucky because we're truly best friends and work well together. I suppose Jake is the talker of the group. Daven would be the quiet one. Jasmine and J. Marie are the lively, outgoing and good-looking ones in the band.
RO: Describe your sound. Is there any style(s) you play or aim for?
OD: Our goal has always been to write simple, catchy, straightforward songs. We just come up with stuff we think is cool and sounds good to us. We don't really follow a formula or anything like that and so far the songs have come pretty easily. Either J. Marie or Daven will come in with a part and then it will just develop from there. So far it has worked out well, and our style has stayed pretty true through these past couple years.
RO: If you possessed your very own personal island, and it was therefore your own country, what would you name it?
OD: Darling World.
RO: What was the best and worst show you guys have played?
OD: We had an amazing show at Spaceland in Los Angeles in June. So far all the shows have been great. One time we drove all night after a gig in Los Angeles to get to San Jose, arrived at our hotel around 6 a.m., slept for a few hours, got up and went to load in for an outside noontime gig at San Jose State University, just as it started to rain. When we pulled up the guy just handed us a check and sent us on our way. So, would not really say it was our "worst show" because it never really happened and we did still get paid, just the whole driving all night and it raining during the summer pretty much sucked.
RO: Describe your first show.
OD: Our first show was at the Doug Fir here in Portland. It was very exciting and action packed. It was only a few months after our band had formed, but we think we pulled it off pretty well. Since then we've really come into our own and really developed our live show.
RO: What do you look for in a band that makes you enjoy them?
OD: Passion, sincerity and good songs.
Here is a link to the Portland Vanguard site.
xo,
the darlings
Portland's Oh Darling Makes With Cute.
by Richard D. Oxley
Oh Darling has made the most of their two years in the City of Roses.
Capitalizing on a wealth of adorable melodies and a healthy propensity for matching outfits, the group has scored themselves a recording deal with Los Angeles-based Creative Works Records and a healthy local following to endorse their speedy rise to prominence.
The band consists of Oregon natives J. Marie Hall on bass, Jasmine Ash on vocals and keyboards, Jake Endicott on drums and Daven Hall on the guitar.
On Sept. 16 they will be releasing their debut album, Nice Nice, on Creative Works and in the meantime you can catch them playing at the Doug Fir on Aug. 9.
The Vanguard was recently able to catch up with the group, by means of the Interweb, to ask them a few questions which they happily answered en masse with a wealth of excellent information.
Richard D. Oxley: Where did the name come from?
Oh Darling: We came up with a list of about 20 names that we put together by adding random words from books we had laying around. Stuff like, "Honey Comb and The Wolf," "Sound Fight" or "When a Bee Flew." All pretty bad. Oh Darling was on the list, we all thought it fit what we were doing. So it stuck, our name is not taken from the Beatles song.
RO: Who is who in the band, personality wise?
OD: Well the three of us, J. Marie, Daven and Jasmine, all live together and drummer Jake lives in the house directly behind us. So, we spend pretty much all of our time together, which is really conducive for lots of songwriting and tons of hanging out together. We're really lucky because we're truly best friends and work well together. I suppose Jake is the talker of the group. Daven would be the quiet one. Jasmine and J. Marie are the lively, outgoing and good-looking ones in the band.
RO: Describe your sound. Is there any style(s) you play or aim for?
OD: Our goal has always been to write simple, catchy, straightforward songs. We just come up with stuff we think is cool and sounds good to us. We don't really follow a formula or anything like that and so far the songs have come pretty easily. Either J. Marie or Daven will come in with a part and then it will just develop from there. So far it has worked out well, and our style has stayed pretty true through these past couple years.
RO: If you possessed your very own personal island, and it was therefore your own country, what would you name it?
OD: Darling World.
RO: What was the best and worst show you guys have played?
OD: We had an amazing show at Spaceland in Los Angeles in June. So far all the shows have been great. One time we drove all night after a gig in Los Angeles to get to San Jose, arrived at our hotel around 6 a.m., slept for a few hours, got up and went to load in for an outside noontime gig at San Jose State University, just as it started to rain. When we pulled up the guy just handed us a check and sent us on our way. So, would not really say it was our "worst show" because it never really happened and we did still get paid, just the whole driving all night and it raining during the summer pretty much sucked.
RO: Describe your first show.
OD: Our first show was at the Doug Fir here in Portland. It was very exciting and action packed. It was only a few months after our band had formed, but we think we pulled it off pretty well. Since then we've really come into our own and really developed our live show.
RO: What do you look for in a band that makes you enjoy them?
OD: Passion, sincerity and good songs.
Here is a link to the Portland Vanguard site.
xo,
the darlings
Friday, August 1, 2008
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