1994 – Nominee – 4th Annual LA Music Awards
Darcy’s Kiss were an alternative rock band based out of the San Fernando Valley area. They apparently self-released this four-song demo tape in 1995. Think Stone Temple Pilots, mainly, with a bit of Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden in there as well.
“Back & Forth” is definitely the weakest link here- for my money, the major highlights are “Sleepyhead” and “Play”.
Side A:
Back & Forth
Setting Sun
Sleepyhead
Play
© 1995 Kiss Off Music
The Van Nuys Sound: In their bio, the band Darcy’s Kiss–with its collective tongue placed firmly in its collective cheek–states that the band is “proudly based in the cultural hotbed of Van Nuys, California, city of magic, city of destiny.”
So when they play at Bourbon Square in Van Nuys on Wednesday night, they won’t have far to travel. The band rehearses in a garage about 30 feet from the club.
The group’s guitarist and resident raconteur Jonny El describes their music as a kind of controlled frenzy. “It’s pretty heavy and it rocks,” El says. “But there’s also a pop element thing to it.”
The band’s six-song cassette demo certainly confirms that. Is this the advent of the Van Nuys sound?
“I don’t know if we can say there’s a Van Nuys sound,” says guitarist Jonny El. “But there’s a healthy community of bands in the Valley.”
Besides El, the band consists of singer Wade Vincent, bassist Derrick Anderson and drummer Kevin Holden.
* Darcy’s Kiss performs Wednesday night at Bourbon Square, 15324 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys. $3 cover. Call (818) 997-8562.