Does Daniel Leopold want to be Steven Tyler? There is something very Aerosmith-like (at least in their rockier incarnation) in his demeanour on many of the songs on Darling Destroyer.
Leopold And His Fiction‘s fourth full length album is certainly no copyist fantasy though, oh no. In fact, you think you have him all worked out and then he’ll suddenly go all Paolo Nutini on you for tracks like ‘Ride‘ or ‘Who Am I?‘, while occasionally unleashing his inner Jack White on the world for ‘I’m Caving In‘ or the blistering version of Dylan‘s ‘If You Gotta Go, Go Now‘, which closes the album.
It’s all wonderfully trashy rock and roll blues fun anyway. In fact, it’s hard to find much else to say about it really. The aforementioned ‘I’m Caving In’ is representative of a bleak period in Leopold’s existence.
As he says, it was “written at a detrimental time of my life when I wasn’t sure I would continue on this path that I’ve worked so hard to be on or if I could even go on living. I know I can look back and identify with the person I was when I wrote it as I feel all people come to such crossroads again and again.” Credit to the guy for pulling himself out of the abyss, and in Darling Destroyer, he makes the most of his chance to free himself from those shackles time and again. Far from being a downbeat reflection of dejection, what we have here is a defiant, jubilant celebration, as though he’s throwing down the gauntlet to life itself – kind of a “fuck you, life! You’ve thrown a lot of shit at me over the years. Well I’m not gonna crack and exit stage left. I’m damn well gonna fight this bullshit, get through it, and what’s more, I’m gonna damn well enjoy it!”
And he’s right. There are lots of stubbornly air punching moments here, with enough diversion to keep the intrigue high. ‘Saturday‘, for instance sounds like a slightly messed up, off kilter, slowed down version of The Knack‘s ‘My Sharona‘ due to its bass led intro, before it morphs into a gnarly rocker that vaguely resembles the Elton John classic ‘Saturday Night’s (Alright For Fighting). Highly entertaining throughout, Darling Destroyer is a big, cuddly success that gets better with every subsequent listen.
Darling Destroyer is out now on ILA/Native Fiction.
