Tune In, Turn On
Regular readers of this column know that we’ve always had a soft spot for local talent. There’s some terrific bands performing original music at the shore including Gutterdrunk, Twisted Livin’, Te Vista, Reckless Randy, senior statesmen rocker, Malcolm Tent, 1adam12 and more.
With that in mind, it’s a pleasure to write about a band called Deardarkhead.
Formed in 1988, DD’s sound incorporates guitar-driven shoegaze and dreampop, with post-punk and psychedelic influences. Last time we saw this indie rock trio, they performed a solid set at WLFR’s Anniversary Party in 2024.
“Our new 10-song album is called ‘The Pendulum Swings’ and we will be releasing it on CD, vinyl and digital through our own Fertile Crescent Records label later in 2026,” Robert Weiss, Deardarkhead’s drummer, told us in an email interview last week.
It was recorded at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia with owners Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey, who have hosted recordings by countless artists including The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Sharon Van Etten and The Dead Milkmen.
The members of Deardarkhead are Kevin Harrington (guitar, vocals), Weiss (drums), and bassist James Malizia, who joined the group in 2024.
Deardarkhead has released five recordings since forming Fertile Crescent Records. Their music has also appeared on various indie compilations from the USA and Japan. Captured Tracks released a retrospective of their early material called “Oceanside: 1991-1993” as the second contribution to their “Shoegaze Archives” series at the end of 2011.
The band joined Saint Marie Records, a label specializing in shoegaze, dreampop, indiepop and electronic music, in 2015. Their first recording for the label, “Strange Weather,” was released in March 2016 and was critically lauded.
Local music fans have an opportunity to see the somewhat-reclusive band when they perform at Little Water Distillery, 807 Baltic Ave., Unit B (“enter from Lexington Avenue,” advises Weiss) in Atlantic City Saturday, Feb. 21. The distillery opens at 1 p.m., Le Onde Coal Fire Pizza Truck will be there at 5 p.m. and the show is at 7 p.m.
“It’s a free show and we will be performing 18 songs, including the majority of the new album, all of our last EP, plus a brand new song and much older material as well,” said Weiss, who is also a talented graphic designer.
“I recently helped out Malcolm Tent with some design work for his latest album (‘A Fade Worse Than Deaf’) at the request of Adam Berardo (1Adam12) who also plays with Malcolm on the recording with his sons Niko and Desi (Te Vista),” Weiss said. “I was happy to lend a hand, as I have known Malcolm a long time. He was very happy with it.”
More information on Deardarkhead can be found on Instagram, Facebook, X and at deardarkhead.com.
Tune-Ups
AC Rare Beer Fest at Anchor Rock Club Announced:
To coincide with the final year of the long-running Atlantic City Beer Fest, founder Jon Henderson is presenting a special event at Anchor Rock Club. “For our 20th anniversary sendoff, we’re dropping a one-night-only Rare Beer Festival at Anchor Rock Club, the unofficial “secret session” of #ACBeerFest,” said a communique we received as we went to press. “This intimate, 350-person insider hang features 25 of the region’s most unique, small-batch, cellar-aged, casked, weird, wild and otherwise impossible-to-find beers, each poured with the stories, insight and personality straight from the brewers themselves.” The date is Friday, April 10, 7-11 p.m.
Tickets/info: https://www.tixr.com/e/171873
