Dark City Kings, an eclectic ensemble from Black Mountain, NC, has delivered a groundbreaking album with "Love Is Punk." With a sound reminiscent of Debbie Harry fronting The Waterboys, this band weaves together heartbreaking love songs, rowdy sing-alongs, and intimate make-out tracks that perfectly capture the essence of love's multifaceted nature.
'Love Is Punk', recorded with Moloney at the historic Studio B at Citizen Vinyl, stands as a testament to the band's journey and their evolving sound. The studio, famed for being the birthplace of the first country music recordings, adds a layer of historic significance to the album, bridging the past with the present in a unique blend of traditional and modern influences.
We sat down with Dark City Kings to learn more about the album, the whole approach to it and much, much more, exclusively for FLEX!
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Your sound has been described as if Debbie Harry was leading The Waterboys. How did this unique blend of influences come together for Dark City Kings?
You mean mixing the downtown Manhattan underground pop of Blondie with the mystic romanticism of The Waterboys? Why not? Why has no one done this before? The core of this band has been playing in the Asheville music scene for a decade, with bands breaking up, band members coming and going. About a year ago there was this idea to go for it - to take off all protection and create a sound that fit us. This wasn't for the punk clubs or for the breweries. Now it seems obvious. Asheville music has a history of Celtic music, country music, underground indie music and art pop. These sounds are all in the air. This is the land of Black Mountain College and also loud punk clubs and roaming black bears and the Southern Appalachian Mountains. We're not faking it. This is what we're hearing - this is what makes us excited.
As a band that prioritises collaboration, how do you typically approach the songwriting and recording process?
I'm a terrible bandmate. When everyone is plugging in and tuning up I'm just messing around with chords. One practice I was messing around with some chords and Merlin said - what are you playing? So we started playing the riff around and around. Colleen and I began to mouth out a melody for the verse - just sounds and nonsense words until it started to form. We played it around and around building one line, two lines, three lines, four lines. Then Colleen said: f-chord to g-chord for the chorus. I grabbed my phone where I have tons of lyrics and I found a good line: "I didn't know how much trouble we'd get into." Colleen created a melody. I could tell the song was working because Bayla and Craig started to sing-along to the chorus immediately. We made it up in the room together. The song still sounded a little thin - until we got into the studio and Kyrie added a double violin riff that braids around itself. Then we had the song "Trouble." In this band you have to be good at listening. You have to put the song ahead of the individual.
Congrats on the new LP! Please sum up 'Love Is Punk' for us in three words.
Flirting, drunken, fun.
What was it like working with such an esteemed producer in Kevin Moloney, and how did he influence the recording of this record?
We were a battered band. We'd just lost two guitar players and picked up Merlin on guitar and Kyrie on violin. We'd decided to go for it again. Then Kevin Moloney contacted us out of the blue. He liked our sound and wanted to meet us. The producer of Sinead O'Connor. Sinead had just passed away and Kevin was doing interviews for Spin Magazine and the New York Times - and he was hanging out with us. He came to our shows and practices. Craig's homestead is on a dirt road up in the mountains and Kevin Moloney would sit on a stool and take notes as we bashed out a new catalogue of tunes. We'd all drink beer and Irish whiskey and hang out. He built us up. He made us feel confident. In the studio? He was a gear head with microphones from the 1950s and 1960s, talking about the acoustics of the room.
For most songs we'd have 5-6 takes and then we'd listen back and Kevin would choose the version with the most magic. Then we'd build on it. No click tracks. All standing in the room together. Kevin made great calls and great decisions. We'd double some vocals, and then Kevin let Kyrie create these two, three violin parts in a song, twisting and braiding around. I'd never heard anything like it. He pulled voices forward in the gang vocals. He created this wide full sound that we'd always wanted to achieve. He didn't have tricks and brought in no studio musicians. This recording is real. He just created the best version of ourselves.
Current favourite song from the album? Each band member please!
Craig = True Believer, Kyrie = True Believer, Bayla = Helicopter, Merlin = Buckminster Fuller, Colleen = Punk Is Love, JP = Party Clothes.
Your themes for this album delve from heartbreaking love songs, to rowdy drunk sing alongs, and everything in between. Who is this album for?
This album is your excuse to have some delinquent fun, to drink some Irish whiskey and dance all night and make-out at the dark end of the bar. Dress up sharp, make a fool of yourself, jump up on stage with a gang of friends. This is the best part of life. Our behaviour is not good - so please join us. There's enough bad boring shit going on in the world and so we're turning this drunken ship of fools towards the wilds and some joy and beauty. This is rock-n-roll. Just fumbling towards a moment.
And finally, what's next for Dark City Kings?
We write all the time. We've written the next album and we'll be going back into the studio with Kevin Moloney. We're working on distribution, label, management, booking. There are so many great clubs in the southeast - like 40 Watt Club in Athens, Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, Snug Harbor in Charlotte - and we want to jump on those stages. We're also working on the concept of "legendary shows," to create something super memorable everytime we step on stage.
Stream 'Love Is Punk' in full below:
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