TVD First Date with | Those Darlins

You might remember Those Darlins from our Ticket Giveaway contest a few weeks back. We've been enjoying the hell out of their music ever since, so a First Date seemed to be in order.

We also offered them the Parting Shots feature that closes out each week here at TVD—but, wouldn't you know it—the Darlins simply don't listen to, nor do they have any Mp3's to share for the feature.

And we love 'em even more for it.

"Between all the members of the band (we all live together), we have four record players in our house. One in each bedroom and one in the living room, for community listening. Our house is littered with vinyl, from one end to the other.

To us, there is no other equivalent form of media. The most obvious reason would be the sound quality... You just can't get digital to sound like that. It's like the difference between tube amps and solid state. But even further than that, I love the act of pulling the vinyl from the sleeve, setting it on the turntable, lifting the needle, and placing it down on the grooves. It's the most interactive form of music listening, almost ritualistic...  as if you have the power to control the sounds that come from that spinning masterpiece. The grooves in the disc are like a secret map of music from the past. And you just can't get the same thing out of a cd cover as you can vinyl covers. The images are profoundly unforgettable at that size, and the details pop out. I would've never been able to see Pete's scabbed up fingers on the cover of Who Sell Out if I hadn't have seen the vinyl cover. Although they do take up  more room than cd's and mp3's... They mean much more to me. You wont find me leaving my records on the floor to step on and crack, or putting more than one record in each sleeve, scratching them all to hell (like most of my cd's ended up). There is something so special about collecting records... because you can't just get your friends to burn it for you. You can't just go find any record at any record store, or download it instantly. No, it's boxes and dusty boxes at a yard sale, looking for that gem you know is in there. And for 50 cents too! It's an endless treasure hunt, and the rewards are sonic bliss.

We are releasing our album two weeks earlier on vinyl than on CD. In part, so folks will hopefully be compelled to buy vinyl but also to show love to indie retail who are the folks who will be carrying our vinyl. Also, our vinyl packaging includes a CD inside so that folks can listen to it as soon as they leave the record store and get in their car."

Those Darlins - Wild One (Mp3)
Those Darlins - Tom Dooley (Mp3)