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Darkwing holds a special place in my heart, which is why I don’t throw a bag of donuts through the second story window of Louis Cozza\u2019s apartment. The band is\u00a0not <\/em>picking up their phone, and it\u2019s evident why. If I could hear Darkwing\u2019s warbling and smashing from the street, they’re not hearing a cellphone vibrating. But finally Rich Gold says he\u2019s going to buzz me up, flooding my iMessage with \u201csorries.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was force-fed Darkwing via their\u00a0Lameonia<\/em> cassette during CMJ 2015. My first snobby, I\u2019m-hot-shit-cause-I\u2019ve-lived-in-Brooklyn-for-five-minutes assessment was, \u201cOk, they\u2019re basically Soundgarden.\u201d Three tape-flips later and I was eating my words.<\/p>\n

Sure, Darkwing borrows (but never steals) essential grunge 101 elements: the seamless shifting between soft and hard, hazy slacker-cool lyrics, riffs that make you slam-sway back and forth, it’s there. But there’s something inexplicable that sets them apart, somewhere between the ironic coos of,\u00a0“ooh, ooh, ooh” and the casual nihilism. It’s like, when you\u00a0feel<\/em>\u00a0that\u00a0tremendously heavy drop in \u201cEndo\u201d\u2014yes, feel<\/em>, not politely bob your head to\u2014it’s life-altering. I wanted to grab breakfast with Darkwing first since they were my first great musical surprise, and because Rich’s recent move to Brooklyn signifies a bold new era. Lyzi Wakefield is touring with Fruit and Flowers and Zach Booth is AWOL, but two out of four ain’t bad.<\/p>\n

So yeah,\u00a0I brought Valentine’s donuts, because Rich is feeling pretty poor right now. But more on that later.<\/p>\n

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The Scene:<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0raw wooden stairway has a good \u201crustic-and-murdery\u201d vibe, but I survive the climb. The apartment itself is clean, with teensy comic store touches all around. Invader Zim<\/em> action figures here, a stray Pokemon card there, a\u00a0DBZ<\/em> sticker on the fridge, et al.<\/p>\n

In a shocking twist, there\u2019s actual<\/em> food<\/em> on the table: crepes, raspberries, blueberries, peanut butter, honey, syrup, blackberries, it\u2019s like I\u2019m in a goddamn French bakery. This is for Louis\u2019s roommates and Louis\u2019s roommate\u2019s girlfriend (…?), so I politely drink coffee with co-opted almond milk instead of diving into carbs. Not wanting to interrupt the band practice flow, I let the boys resume the jam session as we chat about tomorrow’s video shoot for “Vicious” (quick-cut musicians in dark clothing, Rich\u2019s head hovering Wizard of Oz<\/em> style). “Why do you wear so much dark clothes?” I ask.<\/p>\n

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It’s an irreverent answer: \u201cMy sister would say I\u2019m metal A.F. But I\u2019m not.\u201d This ultimately inspires Rich to put on our breakfast music, Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone.<\/p>\n