[DARYL] will have you hearing double with the futuristic nostalgia of their simultaneous new concept albums I Dream Alone and The Wasted Casualties — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
If John Hughes and John Carpenter made a movie together, [DARYL] might just be behind the soundtrack. The Dallas band have been entertaining audiences since 1999, harnessing their love of ’80s music and cinema. They curate their energetic sound with vintage synths and catchy, ferocious post-punk rock ’n’ roll. Plus they’re one letter away from having the greatest band name ever. And now [DARYL] have released their double-strength concept albums The Wasted Casualties and I Dream Alone.
The albums’ theme is a continuation of the graphic novel Slaves For Gods, created by lead singer and songwriter Dylan Silvers’ multimedia art project These Machines Are Winning. The Wasted Casualties’ story takes place in 1982 in Kingman, Arizona, as two rival gangs plan to thrash each other at the homecoming dance. Plans change after they realize a satanic cult has taken over Kingman High and “The Final Process” has begun. The two rival gang leaders realize they have to work together to survive the night.
The I Dream Alone story takes place that same year, when a teenage girl named Jenny 001 and a computer who identifies as Daryl travel through time and space to Kingman to save what cannot be saved. During their journey, Jenny spends most of her time with Daryl learning about The Tsar Bomba and watching ’80s movies, hoping to learn more about Earth’s war machines.
I Dream Alone’s opening track Welcome To The Horror features the late Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, Waitresses) on saxophone, instilling the tone and energy of what’s to follow. Other standouts include Mindy, about a lonely girl who is contemplating suicide, but falls in love and is saved by her new relationship. The bright, synth-heavy new wave energy creates an instant and infectious earworm ripe for the replay button.
Meanwhile, Entertain Me Tonight tells a tale of two drunken homecoming dates hanging in the parking lot of their high school in Kingman, longing to stay with each other all night, never wanting their magical night come to an end. The cinematic ’80s flair is strong, and it’s not hard to picture it in any number of iconic movies of that era. Ultimatly, all the tracks harken to the ups and downs and the pain and bliss of youth and coming of age — but done in a unique, sci-fi graphic novel type of way.
“I get so much emotion and feeling from ’80s music and movies,” Silvers explains. “I suppose it’s a childhood thing with warm memories, but some that are also really dark. I take from this concept of fictional story telling mixed with real life pain and blend them together. I hope the listeners might feel something familiar to them. A place in time that could be present, or it could be decades ago. It could be painful or a happy memory.”
After releasing albums in both the U.S. and Japan early in the new millennium, [DARYL] embarked on a lengthy hiatus, officially reforming in 2018 after being asked to play Dallas’s Homegrown Festival with Explosions In The Sky, The Black Angels and Roky Erickson. After the festival, Silvers started writing songs that would become the band’s most ambitious recording project yet. In addition to sharing stages with acts like Cheap Trick, The Black Keys, Ash, Old 97’s, Spoon and more, they have worked with Grammy-winning producers Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Cat Power) and John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sleater Kinney). Silvers is also an active touring member of Polyphonic Spree, and the creator and co-founder of Nuclear War Skills, a collaborative project between musicians, filmmakers, comic artists, and political activists. Since 2012, they’ve been making graphic novels, records, hosting political festivals, humanitarian events and more.
Check out I Dream Alone and Wasted Casualties below, watch [DARYL]’s videos above, and find them on their website, Instagram and Facebook.
