INTRODUCING YOU TO BANDS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW, BUT TOTALLY SHOULD.

Those Darlins

Damn, it sucks when you get to know a band when it’s too late to be immersed in one of their shows. I started listening to Those Darlins a few years ago, just as the original lineup broke apart, but the band reformed with a replacement. Wish I had taken the time to see them then, because the irreplaceable lead singer Jessi Zazu unfortunately passed away from cancer soon after. I wasn’t aware of that until I started writing this and am pretty bummed as I type. Didn’t know she was gone and had always kept my eyes open for them to suddenly announce a show in my area.

Miss Zazu and the rest of the Darlins produced some of the most badass and fun country punk you could ever want to hear. You can’t help but imagine how completely bonkers their shows must have been, particularly when songs like “Wild One” or “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian” blared out. This much is certain, her pre-diagnosis song “Ain’t Afraid” which ironically mentions a tumor, encapsulates the boisterous spirit of the band. Much of the way they existed, wild and unrestrained, Zazu’s passing reminds me to not let a day go by without doing what you love and saying the words you want to say to those who should hear them.