Night Crickets is a three-piece band consisting of bassist David J (also a member of gothic post-punk band
Bauhaus and ex-
Love And Rockets), drummer Victor DeLorenzo (
Violent Femmes) and multi-instrumentalist Darwin Meiners. Meiners, the youngest of the three, was considered a fan of the aforementioned groups and has since developed a close personal and artistic bond with the two musicians. Musically,
… the three seem to have found each other in their nihilistic view of music. They express this in a range of different indie sub-genres. Opener Black Leather On The Inside starts off nice and messy and is somewhat reminiscent of The Velvet Underground, but develops into an almost danceable song. In The Unreliable Narrator, appropriately recited ghosts cast a dark light on the concept of fake news. Amanda's Mantra features a hefty dose of - intentionally or not - ugly synth sounds; the jazzy saxophone solo added to it sounds like an ironic cherry on top. The acoustic Return To The Garden Of Allah shows that the three of them can also make things that are pleasing to the ear. A Free Society is not a cheerful record, but because of the variety it is certainly a very interesting one. (JV)more
