A current member of the Gumbo Ya-Ya’s and Drunk Girls, Darryn te Roller is no stranger to the Cape Town music scene. His latest solo project, labelled Darryn the Wizard, has just released a track called ‘Cheese’ which piqued my interest within the first ten seconds. The opening line, ‘It’s strange, I only see you on Saturday nights’, stood out for me because, let’s be honest, Cape Town can feel like one of those places where avoiding anybody is a near-impossible feat.
The track, which consists solely of vocals and overlaid guitar sounds, could be in jeopardy of being termed monotonous with regards to its rhythm. However, with the repetition of catchy riffs, Darryn avoids aid label and succeeds in creating a woozy groove, culminating in the hypnotic effect of the song.
Much like Mac DeMarco and Ty Segall, the drawn out nature of Darryn’s sometimes slightly off-key vocals, adds a soulful element to his music. Unlike much of the fast-paced ‘60s garage rock being released by many local bands at the moment, this track offers a more clean, slackened sound. Its lo-fi quality is explained by the recording process used by Darryn – he tracked the song in his bedroom, which he refers to as ‘Spacecake Records’.
For me, ‘Cheese’ is a surf-rock-esque ballad that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. The track reminds me of that 2 to 4am dream-like state when insomnia has kicked in and it’s not quite light yet.
Follow Carrie on Twitter.
Listen to ‘Cheese’ below.
