Afterglow
Fave Raves — Track #2: SLOWLY SHOW ME / Track #6: SKYLINE
Shimmering with woozy, tremolo-soaked guitars and winsome hooks, Brooklyn-based American Darlings celebrate their 10-year anniversary with a glistening new album, Afterglow.
The band’s catchy fuzz-pop has been compared to such stellar luminaries of power pop as Big Star, The Raspberries and Badfinger. Four words describe these Darlings — infectious, melodic, catchy and loud.
Recorded in three studios with three drummers over the past three years, Afterglow was well worth the commitment, time and effort Jason Maksymilian and crew put into this collection. It's a more evolved, psychedelic-infused, instantly catchy listen, displaying an evolution and maturation that is not quite a swan song and not quite a rebirth after a decade of writing, recording and performing.
The press is smitten with American Darlings. Paste magazine: “Fans of Superdrag and GBV will rejoice and rock out like it’s 1996.” The Deli: “The three minute power-pop anthem format is alive and well.” And, Jack Rabid from The Big Takeover is calling the new album, “Greater sonic exploration... like The Verve producing Alex Chilton.”
Jack Rabid/The Big Takeover #87…
Having fulfilled the promise of earlier releases on Glow, JASON MAKSYMILIAN's Brooklyn boys title their successor release Afterglow. Ha, not bad. But that doesn't augur the change he’s/they’ve undertaken, i.e., it’s not a straight sequel; the title is accurate in production evocation. The EP (digital and... cassette!) is a greater sonic exploration, more impressionistic in guitar tonality than the fortifying mod/power-pop mix they’ve propagated. It’s obvious from “You’re Not Alone,” which introduces a heretofore covert MBV/Brian Jonestown/BRMC construct without going full shoegaze; a few other songs sound like The Verve producing Alex Chilton, or Ultra Vivid Scene gone Pale Saints. Only “Coming Back For More” directly rocks, though it’s the standout melody of the closing, beguiling “Skyline” that's the super-gem—like the most honeydripped tune that Velvet Crush or Chicago’s Sam Vicari ever offered us. A song to swoon for—it’s what we all want.
- Available for streaming and download on all services
- Also on cassette (w/digital download) and compact disc
- Supercool cover art and package design by Jason Maksymilian
American Darlings Bio
American Darlings have been providing fuzzy guitars and catchy melodies since Fall 2010.
Calling Bushwick, Brooklyn their home, Jason, Tommy, Garett and Brian/Dan have independently released three EPs and three LPs, along with demo and live collections over their decade's long efforts. They've played CMJ and CBGB festivals, while gigging heavily around the Brooklyn and Manhattan scenes, and they've received national radio airplay on NYC's Q104.3.
The band has garnered consistent buzz from indie music blogs like Culture Collide, Impose, Epitonic.com, and The Deli magazine named American Darlings Artist of the Month, putting them on their cover. Perhaps their biggest honor to date has been multiple features in the nationally distributed, glossy The Big Takeover magazine.
American Darlings new album, Afterglow, is out now on all major streaming platforms, compact disc and cassette from Cacophone Records.
- Jason Maksymilian–Vocals, Guitars
- Tommy Cormier–Guitars, Synths, Vocals
- Garrett Weinholtz–Bass
- Brian Ossip–Drums
- Daniel Vincent–Drums
For more info about American Darlings and Afterglow, please contact us using the form here.
