Columbus, Ohio-based quartet The Wet Darlings composes music that straddles saccharine and grit, they’ll stick to the roof of your mouth, and perhaps make you want to brush your teeth. Bubblegum-sweet pop-rock hooks belie themes of salty emotion and lovelorn hangovers, with vocals that are a punch to the gut. These are breakup songs.
In the heart of a heart-shaped state, the band was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 2008. Guitarist Bill Patterson, who entered musical puberty via Van Halen and King Crimson, met singer Jenny Lute, who started a prodigious vocal career as a teen, belting out gospel standards in a rural Ohio church. The band is rounded out with genre-hopping percussionist Aaron Bishara and bassist/synth player Joe Patterson.
The group released two EPs and was named in Columbus Alive’s annual Bands to Watch issue (where they called The Wet Darlings’ sound “a dazzling modern update of ’90s alt-rock’s finer strains seasoned by gospel, soul and retro pop…with sunshine-and-hellfire country-fried swoons”). Their music received regular regional radio play and over a half-million plays on Spotify of the single “Bicycle.” UWeekly Magazine called The Wet Darlings “raw and captivating,” and said their music is “dripping with pure emotional intensity… Lute’s voice resonates through a crushing guitar presence.” Loud and Upfront Magazine echoed the “captivating” descriptor and elaborated by saying, “Their sound is stunning… sweet and powerful,” while 614 Magazine described their music as “a blend of sweltering big vocal sing-a-longs.”
With all of that under their belt, the band headed into the studio to record their first full-length album. Two years later, they emerged with Beautiful Things. Columbus Alive has already praised the new album, writing, “The Wet Darlings constructed a lush, gleaming musical world. (Jenny) Lute anchors the proceedings with her force-of-nature voice, which carries room-leveling power even in those moments it barely registers a whisper.”
The Wet Darlings are now playing on TMN Radio.