Darlings Of Chelsea Honour Classic Rawk

You know how cheesy-disgusting all of those motivational posters at your work are?

Like, the one staring at you right now as you avoid that overdue report by reading this story? It probably has a picture of a mountain or a squirrel climbing a tree and says something like, "Determination: It is the size of one's will that determines success." They're pretty annoying, aren't they?

Well, to music fans, those horrific opening bands we have to endure nightly are like really loud motivational posters. The more they suck, the more we sit there thinking how much better we could do it. Trouble is, like most people in your office, after time those posters just start blending in with the beige walls and we become jaded without doing anything.

But Toronto's Darlings Of Chelsea did something.

"We all were hanging around the local rock hangouts drinking our faces off and talking about how the good rock bands were gone or about to break up/retire," says bassist Robby Ruckus about the band's formation. "Music is lacking great new rock bands. There are so many of these flash-in-the-pan bands with no real depth. They need to pay their dues, get out on the road and write songs that weren't programmed into a machine for them."

The quartet are comprised of some pretty shit-hot underground talent. Their ranks boast members of The Black Halos, Cheerleader, Robin Black And The Intergalactic Rock Stars, Terror Jets and CJ Sleez. They came together to demolish those fucking posters once and for all.

"We decided we couldn't stand to sit idly by with the 'bands' that were getting front page shout-outs in rock magazines when they were really just some guy, his girlfriend and a MacBook or Toys 'R' Us keyboard," he continues. "So instead of continuing to drink our faces off and talk about it, we thought we'd see what we could do to remedy the situation."

The quintet (rounded out by guitarists Jay Millette and Paul Thomspon, drummer Chris Nova and vocalist Sean Robertson) are barely a year old, but have already issued the first shot of remedy: debut independent EP The Mimico Sessions. It's a six-song rock 'n' roll rant that unites such unruly miscreants as The Rolling Stones, Hellacopters and Johnny Thunders. It's garnered instant praise, but Ruckus is still humble about the band.

"Our sound is raging, furious rock 'n' roll," he says. "It's forged in 1970s rock cooled by the British sounds of the early-1990s, sparked by the hardcore of the late-1990s and rises as something completely new all-together.

"Like rock should be, we're influenced from late nights spent at booze-cans, fights with girlfriends, going out to thousands of shows, playing in bands, touring the world — all those dark but awesome things in life.

"Then the whole band is kind of overtaken by this mainstream-ish voice and melody that lets you know there's still hope for a type of rock that's fresh and listenable."

Darlings Of Chelsea will play these shows:

June 19 Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo (NXNE)
June 20 Toronto, ON @ Bovine Sex Club (NXNE)
June 26 Toronto, ON @ The Velvet Underground
July 3 Guelph, ON @ Albion Hotel