Iconic and foundational bands in the history of alternative music certainly include Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, and Violent Femmes. San Francisco born artist Darwin Meiners was a fan of all three. A chance meeting 13 years ago with David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets) grew into a friendship, and Darwin not only became a band mate, but David J’s manager.

After reaching out to Victor DeLorenzo through e-mail, Darwin met the Violent Femmes drummer after the Femmes’ Coachella set in 2013. Soon after the three collaborated on Darwin’s 2014 release Souvenir.

As the pandemic took hold, Darwin was looking for a new project to occupy the lock-down time and approached Victor, who was keen to proceed and suggested that David join as well. The musical trust established between these three was immediate and Night Crickets were born.

Within weeks a global process was initiated between them, the recordings eventually forming the album, A Free Society. To say this is something of a dream come true for music fans would be entirely accurate.

“There’s a lot of analogue warmth to this album which will only be emphasized all the more on vinyl” says David J of Omnivore recording artists Night Crickets about the imminent vinyl release of their debut album A Free Society on July 29th, 2022.

Side A:
1. Black Leather On The Inside
2. Candlestick Park
3. Amanda’s Mantra
4. A Free Society
5. Roman À Clef
6. Soul Wave

This new album, constructed by layers of heartfelt, yet affectionately moody art-pop opens on the acoustically-imbibed, almost countrified Black Leather On The Inside and the melodic, low ebb, balladry song about the baseball park Candlestick Park and those are followed up by the short, but synth sweet Amanda’s Mantra (a track constructed around an infamous kiss between Marilyn Monroe and James Dean), the tambourine-led, shimmeringly catchy title track Free Society, the sweeping fuzz of Roman À Clef and then comes the slow, mesmerizingly groovy, mid-tempo balladry yearn of the aching Soul Wave.

Side B:
7. Little Did I
8. Sloe Song
9. The Unreliable Narrator
10. Down Below
11. Return To The Garden Of Allah
12. Sacred Monster
13. I Want My Night Crickets!

Next up is the upbeat, funky and rhythmically smooth Little Did I and the almost ethereal Sloe Song and they are in turn backed by the veritably spoken word, wistfully somber The Unreliable Narrator, the sonically-charged, yet atmospherically eerie Down Below, the Bowie-esque Return To The Garden Of Allah, the album rounding out on the, again, tambourine-led, darkly enjoyable Sacred Monster, closing on the all-hands-on-deck, veritably instrumental, strange psych-pop hipsway of I Want My Night Crickets!

A member of iconic post-punk bands Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, David J embraces the format, especially when it comes to this release. “Vinyl was the format that I initially listened to music on when I was a kid and when it first became so important to me. So there is a degree of nostalgia there but what transcends that is the enveloping warm, rich quality of the sound.”

Together with band mates Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes) and multi-instrumentalist/artist Darwin Meiners, Night Crickets are excited for the format. “A vinyl record is where it all started for me,” reinforces Victor. “The pressing of our album gives the listener a rich, round and full-bodied sound with wonderful detail along the spectrum! It swings and sings.”

The band’s name came from one of many Zoom meetings between the three members. After addressing various pressing musical issues the conversation rambled somewhat and turned to the subject of David Lynch, with David J telling an anecdote which was told to him by Lynch’s sound designer, John Neff.

Lynch had asked Neff to obtain a field recording of crickets chirping at night for inclusion in Mulholland Drive. When Neff played him the tape, the director immediately recognized the sound that the insects make when it is light which is apparently a little different to their nocturnal chirp.

“No! No! No! These are day crickets, John! I want my night crickets!” Victor, Darwin, and David then shared a look of mutual realization and instantly agreed that the project now had a name!

Night Crickets - The Unreliable Narrator (Official Video)

Official Purchase Link

Omnivore Night Crickets - A Free Society (Official Trailer)