DARLA FARMER
REWIRING THE ELECTRIC FOREST
PAPER GARDEN
WORDS: JAY LOWE

Though they’ve been making waves in Tennessee since 2004, Nashville’s Darla Farmer but haven’t released an album until now. The band's diverse sound evinces their geographic spread, with members hailing from the South, Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Their press kit claims they're a ska-meets-thrash band, but this reviewer found that characterization a little hard to swallow. They are a seven-piece, self-dubbed carnival rock band that plays a musical amalgam of ska, folk-punk and Americana, interspersed with jarring, electronic haze and the occasional church bell, so concise epithets are not likely. Comparisons to Tom Waits are easy but misguided, so let's jut get them over with now.

Opener "Dirty Keys" begins with a machine-gunning industrialized guitar riff and hoarse, croaky screams, while "Tommy Bones" tells the story of a belligerent, aristocrat-hating (murdering?) drifter set to a jaunty, cheerful (sounding, at least) ditty. However widely ranging Rewiring is, Darla Farmer’s sound nevertheless consistently returns to its center: syncopated, up-stroked guitar, one whirlwind of a horn section and a razor-sharp bite of violin.

Vocalist and lyricist Clint Wilson definitely had a lot to say for his band’s debut; the liner notes overflow with tiny, tiny lyrics about the evils of the world, ranging from the loss of the earth to the twin evils of capitalism and environmental exploitation to alcoholism and drug use. All the songs are distinctly narrative, yet lack a visible personal angle. Wilson's vocals also tend to throw you off. Whether he is crooning wistfully or screaming hardcore, his voice is downright feminine; even after multiple listens (and even more checks of the liner notes for a female’s name) it’s hard to believe that these words are being sung by a man. Chalk one more up for the weirdness of this band.

Feminine front man or no, this album satisfying and energizing independent of its startling changes of pace. Easily recommended for its mélange of musical styles and excellent instrumentation, just don't go in expecting a cut diamond. This is an album of pressurized amalgamate if there's ever been one.