I have been hearing a lot lately about Daphne Loves Derby. Their online marketing has been impressive and I am seeing their name pop up all over the place. This sort of promotion can mean one of two things: either the record is good and deserves attention, or the record is bad and NEEDS the attention to help it sell a handful of copies. I received a copy of Daphne Loves Derby in the mail a couple days ago. I put it in the day I received it and after one listen took it out of the player. I tried it again the next day…again only got through one listen. My mother told me if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all, a cliché saying neither she nor myself have ever lived by.

AJ also loves Derby…the Portland Oregon lo-fi pop group. AJ, however, does not love Daphne Loves Derby. The music is good..whatever. It’s not that. It’s the fact that after listening to it once, I felt like I had already heard it a million times because it sounds EXACTLY like about 40 other records in my CD collection. Clearly I am a fan of the power pop/emo genre. I guess I have just reached a point where I have heard enough of it. I think if something were really going to impress me in that genre, it would have to be in some way different and have an added element that makes it in some way unique. Daphne Loves Derby does not have this. It’s the same old stuff you’ve heard a million times in movie and television soundtracks and on the radio, and anywhere else bands like The Weez are openly embraced.

I am a music fan. I love bands. I think MOST bands have a reason for doing what they do and it really does mean something. Maybe this record means something to the band…I’m sure it does. I am sure they put a lot of time and effort into their songs and the recording and I will be the first to give them props for all of their hard work. Good for you guys! Way to go! Keep it up! The music is good, the songs are good….everything about it is good. And had it been released 5 years ago, I probably would have been drooling over it. Daphne Loves Derby is just too little too late. I was so uninterested in this album that I didn’t even want to open the liner notes to see what was inside. I haven’t gone to their website, I didn’t read a one sheet…I did none of my normal research before writing this…because I don’t care. I don’t care about this band or their music. I can think of about 60 bands, both signed and unsigned, that sound exactly the same….and they’re all pretty good.

So, suffice it to say, I wasn’t into this album at all. But, if you really like the power pop genre and have not yet been supersaturated in sugary sweet hook after hook and boundless predictability, then check out this record. If you want a preview of the record before you buy, I guess watch the OC or any movie with Drew Barrymore in it, as it will most likely make the soundtrack…or listen to the artists listed below… it kinda sounds like that. Let me clarify something though, I would see Daphne Loves Derby live..and I would probably really enjoy the show. Alls I am saying is I am glad I got this record for free cause there’s no way I could justify buying something I already have 50 copies of.

I apologize right now for not caring enough to put effort into this band or this review. To the band, however, keep it up. You’re clearly talented…you’re just not that original. Fingies crossed for the next record…and listen to DERBY.

PS- after writing this, I went to their website and stuff to check them out. I guess they have been around for a little while…at least on the local level. It doesn’t change my opinion of their music at all…so that makes me feel a little better. They’re cuter than I thought they’d be though.

RIYL:
Jimmy Eat World
The Audition
Hidden In Plain View
Fall Out Boy
Superdrag
Early November
Sunday’s Best
Moneen
Switchfoot
Pavement
Sunny Day Real Estate
Ultimate Fakebook
JamisonParker
Death Cab For Cutie
Side Effect
The Fray
Jets To Brazil
Weezer
The Hurt Process
Velvet Velvet
Gatsby’s American Dream
The Matches
Said Sadly
Ween
In Stereo
Appleseed Cast
Goner
Sonotones
Motion City Soundtrack
Something Corporate
Snow Patrol
Uptown Sinclair
Morningstar
Nerf Herder
The Rocket Summer
Denver Harbor
Give Until Gone
Kurios
Appleseed
The Holy Fire
More Than Nothing
Plain White T’s
Last October
Jupiter Sunrise
Braid
The Juliana Theory
Faully
The Rentals
Finch
Providence
The Honorary Title
Epperly
The Spill Canvas
Red Jumpsuit
Nada Surf
Ozma
Westpoint
The Promise Ring
Favez
White Octave
Mae
Copeland
19 Wheels
Audiopilot
Dashboard Confessional
The Get Up Kids
Abbington
Facing New York
Midtown
Etc
Etc
Etc

www.daphnelovesderby.com