The Dark Jokes

So Ralph's wandering along Edinburgh's Princes Street whilst on tour at the The Fringe when, instead of the sound of the usual piper at the foot of The Mound, some gritty, bluesy notes were ringing out and being of an inquisitive nature it called for investigation.

Doing a busking session were young Edinburgh band The Dark Jokes, and judging by the size of the crowd that had formed and the amount of CD's they were selling, they were the ones that were laughing!  They describe themselves as a band with brooding sounds, bold words and big ideas.

The Dark Jokes are, Aaron Dennington up front orchestrating affairs and brother Paul on drums with Jamie Hogg on bass and instrument juggling cellist and keyboard player Matthew Thornton.










If they can create a passerby stopping sound out on the street, I can't wait to catch a live show.  Sadly Ralph's time in Edinburgh was limited to 5 days and fully committed, so I was unable to catch them at shows later in the week, however I'll be keeping an eye on their gigging with a view to a live review.  In the meantime I can't recommend their debut EP 'Low Winter Sun' highly enough prior to the release of their album.  Their sound is well crafted, gripping and belies their relatively tender years.

I like the darker, almost psychedelic feel to 'Over And Out' and 'Garden Path' compared to the Scottish Alt Rock feel of 'Low Winter Sun' - the obvious choice for a single.  It's release was followed by a very accomplished, atmospheric video by innovative director Jack King and features a cameo performance by Neil Leiper, who starred in the Ken Loach film 'The Angel's Share'.  

They've had a busy time doing gigs and festivals this year, including a tour of Europe and South America!  They even performed at the 17th Cultura Inglesa Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil which last year featured Franz Ferdinand and The Horrors.  Rest assured given the critical acclaim The Dark Jokes have received so far we'll be hearing much more from them in the future.