The experimental Seattle rock band Darto is readying their Fundamental Slime EP for release on September 14th via Aagoo. Self-recorded by the band on Whidbey Island this past April, the upcoming 12″ finds members Gordon De Los Santos, Gregory Flores, Candace Harter and Nicholas Merz also joined by the Seattle saxophonist Neil Welch (Bad Luck). The album was mixed by Steve Fisk (Screaming Trees, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Low, The Wedding Present) and mastered by April Golden (Soundgarden, Car Seat Headrest, Goat, Rob Zombie).
While the band’s 2017 LP Human Giving (Aagoo) explored notions of hope and the possibility for a better future through a sense of community, Fundamental Slime focuses on the darker and more malign aspects of human existence. “Brotherhood” is our first listen in on the upcoming EP and discussing the track Greg Flores explains that the song is about “power and dominance”. Focusing in particular on the ways that men protect their sense of authority through violence, Flores goes on to explain:
“The irony is that violent dominance is an ultimate display of weakness, and it’s a way to express insecurity while still maintaining power.”
The cut finds the band honing a tightly wound sense of sonic anxiety. Powered by a trepidatious heartbeat of bass and the frayed edge of a nervous guitar line, Darto sets the stage for this darkly minimalist meditation. With frontman Nicholas Merz addressing the face of eroding power itself, the vocalist asks the “American man” to speak to him about freedom. Probably more of a rhetorical question than a direct query, Merz proceeds by turning issues of sexual desire and dominance upside down as he offers himself up saying, “Love me like you want me.” Meanwhile, Neil Welch’s saxophone wails out in agonized exhalations as it seems to give voice to the mute terror at the heart of masculine angst and uncertainty.
