Dark Times - Give
No wave noise punk outfit Dark Times hails from Oslo, Norway. The band recently performed a live set during the Spot Festival, where Tapetown Studio and Drowned in Sound hosted a special event.
Dark Times
According to Dark Times, "'Give' is from our debut album with the same name from 2014. The song is simply about giving what you can and never mind what others are saying. Nobody’s perfect, and what you do is good enough."
The threesome, made up of Rikke Fjell Jørgensen (drums), Ann Kristin Traaen (vocals, guitar), and Sebastian Rusten (baritone guitar), is signed to Sheep Chase Records, and set Oslo’s underground music scene on fire in 2010. In 2014, they dropped their first LP, called Give, which went on to receive a nomination for Spellemannprisen, Norway’s equivalent of the Grammy. They performed at the 2017 SXSW Festival, and dropped their second album, Tell Me What I Need, in 2018.
Traaen’s galvanizing voice infuses the lyrics with tight disdainful flavors accented by a bad-ass punk attitude.
Since dropping Tell Me What I Need, the band has been performing in Scandinavia and Germany, and has begun working on new material. So look for new music soon. The band's influences include all "great band who possess the three most important ingredients of rock'n'roll: groove, attitude, and raw power.
It should be noted that unless I’m missing something of vital importance, Dark Times has had a change in personnel in the last few years. I don’t believe Sebastian Rusten is with the band anymore, having been replaced by a new bassist. Their publicist has been contacted to find out who’s in the band at the present juncture.
Yes, the band added a new bassist last fall. Andrea Barsnes Undset took over for Sebastian Rusten.
“Give” opens on a flaming grinding guitar joined by a rumbling drum beat. When the bass kicks in, the raw edge of the melody proves to be dominating, thrumming with deep dynamics. Traaen’s galvanizing voice infuses the lyrics with tight disdainful flavors accented by a bad-ass punk attitude.
A drum-pounding bass-filled refrain precedes the bridge leading to Traaen strutting her licks on her axe. Her solo exudes scorching colors along with snarling textures.
Dark Times delivers elements of visceral pop-punk that’s not quite pop-punk. It’s not hardcore punk, either. More of a blended sound, that’s muscular, ragged, and electrifying. Superb music!
