I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - s/t
(Emperor Jones)
Patience is a virtue, so they say, and patience will serve you well in approaching I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness (best band name ever?). This virtue will be rewarded exactly two and one half minutes into the opening track when the band suddenly evolves from a bit of bland convention into intricate pop masterminds. The guitars which had previously chimed listlessly, grow sprout tentacles, the plodding melody finds its drive, and we get about a minute and a half of greatness.
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness is a band comprised of Jason McNeely, formerly of Windsor for the Derby, Edward Robert, formerly of Paul Newman, and sundry other Austin, TX, scenesters, who are anxiously engaged in a post-rock update of Factory Records and Manchester post-punk. They marry intricate, interlacing guitar melodies to austere Martin Hannet-esque production, and let the fun begin. "The Less You See" steals a line straight from Peter Hook. "I Want to Die in the Hot Sun" out-Interpols Interpol in backward-looking mod moodiness. It becomes the most blatant on "When You Go Out," loading up on massive reverbed riffs and rapid, choppy guitar rhythms. Fittingly, however, the EP (five tracks, 17 minutes) peaks with the final track, which is lush and beautiful and somehow transcendent despite its bitter lyrics.
That kind of contradiction, however, is clearly delineated in the bands name and also perhaps best encapsulates their music (and the most obvious references, for lazy critics). I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness has joined the ranks of those who make the sad kids dance. Next, be on the lookout for trenchcoats at your local indie record shop.
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