Tim Darcy
Saturday Night
Release Date: Feb 17, 2017
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, New Wave/Post-Punk Revival
Record label: Jagjaguwar
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Album Review: Saturday Night by Tim Darcy
Very Good, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 7.0/10
Saturday night has long been pop music's favorite part of the week--a time for fighting, fevers, and over-excited group spelling bees. But if the cover of his first solo album is any indication, Tim Darcy likes to spend it alone with his plants. His Saturday Night isn't about going out on the town, but retreating inside his mind, following his wandering thoughts wherever they lead, even if they take him to some dark places.
Based on rating 7/10
Dear Tim, I don't reckon you need another Valentine note this week. God knows, with your bouquet of a debut in all the writers' laps, you'll rake in a two-foot tall pile by Friday. Everyone loves you, Tim - you realize that, right? Or, at least, everyone who got caught in the riptide of Ought and flounder still in those tempestuous seas. And I love you, Tim.
Based on rating 7/10
Tim Darcy is no stranger to introspection. As the singer/guitarist of exuberant Montréal-based art-punk quartet Ought, he's wrought thoughtful lyrics that delve into the nature of creativity and cast a critical eye on the mundane. These traits persist on his first solo effort, even as the songwriter jettisons his band's jittery rhythms for a more laidback approach. In fact, Darcy feels more like an easygoing troubadour than an anxious David Byrne acolyte on Saturday Night's early tracks.
Based on rating 6.5/10
As frontman of the Montreal post-punk band Ought, Tim Darcy often channels eccentrics like David Byrne and Isaac Brock. On Saturday Night, Darcy's first solo release, he aims for something else entirely; the 10-song disc is a tour through alternative rock forms from several decades. Most of the songs here are more strictly conventional than anything in Ought's young discography.
Based on rating 6/10
Saturday Night is the solo debut of Ought lead singer and guitarist Tim Darcy. (Formerly known as Tim Beeler, he legally adopted his mother's maiden name in 2015.) It was recorded in Toronto rather than in his group's base of Montreal, and features backing vocals and drums by Toronto singer/songwriter Charlotte Cornfield. The album gathers songs of a more personal nature than were fitting for his band's fierier post-punk disposition, with a few actually predating Ought.
Opinion: Excellent
Tim Darcy, we are told, had reached an impasse. Lead singer with the really-rather-superb Montreal group Ought, he knew that a change was needed, a side-step required. Heading to Toronto, he squeezed in additional recording sessions while work on Ought's second album took place. Utilising odd scraps of time - late at night, spare studio sessions at the weekend - he pulled together songs both old and new to forge something different.
'Saturday Night'
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