***Victory Is Rated is the 3rd studio album from Philadelphia’s DARK BLUE, following 2014’s Pure Reality and 2017’s widely acclaimed Start Of The World. Over the course of the last half decade, the ensemble—helmed by CLOCKCLEANER / PUERTO RICO FLOWERS founder JOHN SHARKEY III, have walked a thin line between defiance and fatalism, often trading in the anthemic with equal doses of the sardonic and the melancholy. That all of it is increasing informed & influenced by the real goddamned world probably helps. There’s some cruel irony in Sharkey’s (second) self-imposed exile from the USA occurring right after completing the recording of Victory Is Rated with conspirators ANDY NELSON (CEREMONY), MICHAEL SNEERINGER (STRANDS OF OAK, ROASLI) and B. DAVID WALSH given that this is by far, Dark Blue’s most fully realized statement—in some alternative universe where this band toured consistently, they’d be way too big for this label (frankly, they already are), but really, what has America done to actually deserve their brutal honesty? Sharkey says the album’s main themes are class war and mortality. I’m not entirely sure there are other themes (not simply on Victory Is Rated, either) , but we’re very fortunate he’s so skilled at writing about those two. He also likens the record to “if Blitz went Brit pop” and while that ticks off a couple of crucial boxes for me, let’s get something rather thorny out of the way. However many allusions you’ve seen to some subculture you either dislike or can...
LP $17.75
02/22/2019
***It’s 2018 and it’s another shite year in America. But hey, the Philadelphia Eagles finally made it to the Super Bowl, so it’s only fitting there’s a new DARK BLUE single recorded by none other than JEFF ZIEGLER, The band’s 2016 LP—Start of The World—was as much an ode to the powerless as it was an effort to lay bare uncomfortable realities: the working poor keep working only to get poorer, oh and ICYMI, there’s a violent occupation happening in Palestine. Dark Blue’s latest 7” for 12XU continues to sing to the unsung with two tracks that are unwilling to sugarcoat issues many seem to turn a blind eye to. The A side, “Fight to Love,” is a brit-pop ballad that feels arena huge thanks to JOHN SHARKEY III's distinct vocals, which are the strongest and most emotional they’ve ever been. Like all Dark Blue songs, bleak is always embedded in the pop. This track rails against gentrification, which according to Sharkey, doesn’t matter if it’s lead by “slime who dress their rescue dogs in Lycra,” or if it’s cloaked in Zionism. The flip side to this is a reimagined version of Anti-Nowhere League’s 1983 classic, “For You.” Instead of the cut’s street punk grit, Dark Blue turns the track inside out to expose a song that goes right for the heart instead of the usual brick to the gut.
7" $7.50
03/02/2018
Dark Blue follows up their debut Pure Reality with Start Of The World—a soundtrack of a decaying United States. Each song drips with the reality of atrocities happening all around us. John Sharkey III (vocals, guitar) pushes the band far beyond the post-punk-meets-oi! sound they perfected on their earlier releases, and adds elements of Britpop and shoegaze. Recorded by Jeff Zeigler (Kurt Vile, Nothing), this pop album makes no apologies. Boot-stomping opener “Union of Buffoons” sets the political tone with an anthem for workers’ rights, the biting lyrics referring to human expendability in the face of deregulation and stagnancy of labor rights. “Bombs on the Beach” evokes a playful innocence with ’50s doo-wop and surf rock, but the lyrics tear through any cheerfulness and describe the dropping of missiles on a beach of unsuspecting Palestinian children. Other tracks such as “Be Gone Everyone” and “Western Front” highlight the solid rhythm section of Michael Sneeriger (drums, Strand of Oaks) and Andrew Mackie Nelson (bass, Ceremony). Start Of The World is the kind of record that the band has always promised: a collection of smart, fully realized songs that tell stories. With the world falling apart around us, Dark Blue continues to give a voice to neglected perspectives, many which are unnerving but necessary to hear.
LP $17.50
11/04/2016
MP3 $7.92
11/04/2016
FLAC $9.90
11/04/2016
***Comprised of members of CLOCKCLEANER, CEREMONY, PAINT IT BLACK and STRAND OF OAKS, Philadelphia's DARK BLUE play burly, wide-open guitar sound that was found on earlier releases by such UK '80s bands as The Comsat Angels, The Stone Roses, Blitz, and Australia's The Church witch the charismatic voice of JOHN SHARKEY III. Red White collects the band's out of print singles. Recent 7-inch and upcoming full-length on 12XU.
LP $15.50
04/01/2016
***After three releases in 2014,Philadelphia’s Dark Blue return with two songs about blue collar depression in a changing Philadelphian landscape for their debut 7″ on Austin’s 12XU. While the previous releases hinted at the pop tendencies of Dark Blue, this new single finally embraces them fully. A-side “Vicious Romance” finds leader JOHN SHARKEY III coming to grips with letting go of an unsustainable dream. Whether that dream be romantic love, or the idea the “romantic” dream a certain country paints only to instead cause pain, grief, and bloodshed to Palestinians and Arab Jews. It’s a love song in the highest order and with all great love songs, it stays in your head and leaves you breathless. Flip-side “Delco Runts” is a love (or hate) letter to Delaware County. As Sharkey explains, “It’s a place that toughens you fast. Far harder to succeed than Philadelphia proper. The peril is real but unassuming to the initiated. It’s crushed your chances of being a real person before you even know it.” If you ever wondered what it might be like if Oasis, Discharge, and John Cale got pissed and started a band together, “Delco Runts” is your answer. Dark Blue is the sound of unrelenting confidence in a bleak world. We are lucky to have them to remind us that we can still make it through it all. “…’Atrocity Exhibition’-style skronk and scrape and a commandeering, theatrical baritone evoking Ian Curtis in Dave Gahan's ten-gallon hat.”—Pitchfork
7" $7.25
01/15/2016