The Darts are back with a high-energy new album titled, ‘Snake Oil,’ out via Alternative Tentacles Records.

The band formed in 2016 with the goal of getting some solid female musicians together to make garage punk rock fun. ‘Snake Oil’ is a much fuller sound than any Darts disc before. Courtesy of their longtime collaborator Bob Hoag (FB Rec) and some remote control co-production wizardry from Jello Biafra himself. Featuring the return of Nicole Laurnne on vocals/Farfisa and Hammond organ, Christina Nunez on bass/vocals, and Meliza Jackson on guitars/vocals, ‘Snake Oil’ is the debut of new drummer Mary Rose Gonzales.

“There is nothing quite like hearing an idea for a song in your head”

You have a brand new album out titled ‘Snake Oil’. There’s a lot of snake oil salesmen out there these days, aren’t there? What inspired the album making?

Nicole Laurenne: In the past, I wrote Darts songs to be kind of fun – a little spooky, a little deadly, but always with a wink. But then the lockdown hit. I wrote a ridiculous number of songs while we were doing nothing for so long. Living in Arizona, where there seemed to be a crazy amount of fake news, toxic opinions, and insane politics swirling around all the time, honestly I felt incredibly hopeless, sad and angry. I was really frustrated with what was going on. Of course I poured my thoughts into my songs.

We sent about thirty songs to Jello Biafra, who runs our label Alternative Tentacles Records, and told him we want to do a double album with one record of fast songs and one of slow songs. He basically said no, you’ve only got about nine songs here. Ha! He said, no one is touring anyway right now so don’t rush, go back and do re-writes and see what you come up with. Slowing down is very hard for me, and editing myself was really hard. But I took the advice to heart and… ell he is a legend for a reason. He was right. The songs turned out really well, with better hooks and arrangements, and they still say what I wanted to say. As time passed while I was re-writing, I started to calm down and bring back some of the fun that defines the Darts also.

“Some of these songs have more serious messages hidden in them”

How long did you work on it? What can you tell us about the songs that appear on it?

Once we had the songs selected and finalized and the lockdown was finally lifting a little, we set some recording dates. But then Meliza (guitar) had a freak accident and severely injured her fret hand. So we had to put everything on hold yet again and reschedule the studio time. We also were in the process of replacing our drummer (our previous drummer had stepped down before the pandemic). We were really lucky to work with several talented people, but it took awhile to find the right fit. We had seen Mary Rose Gonzales playing with her band in Chicago when they performed with us in the past and she came on board about three months before the recording sessions. She learned everything by video – a whole new album, plus a long live set – and was ready to go by the time the studio dates arrived. So this was definitely the longest we have ever, ever spent getting an album ready!

Songs like ‘Love Story,’ ‘You Just Love Yourself,’ ‘Pink Slip’ and ‘Bring It Back’ are about some of the difficult romantic relationships I’ve had (yes, my heart truly is a graveyard). But ‘Love Tsunami’ and ‘Donne-Moi Tout’ are more about the fun side of love, which – I will grudgingly admit – sometimes exists. For the first time though, I was ready to bring some of my thoughts about other issues into the songs. ‘Snake Oil’ started out about substance abuse but also became a great metaphor for fake news, and ‘Intersex’ is a love letter to our LGBTQ+ family and friends. ‘Under the Gun’ is about not giving up the fight even when everyone thinks you’re going to lose – every musician knows this fight, but it applies to so many moments in life on a daily basis. So some of these songs have more serious messages hidden in them even though they are really fun songs.

<a href="https://thedartsus.bandcamp.com/album/snake-oil">Snake Oil by The Darts (US)</a>

Would it be possible to compare it to your previous two releases, not to mention to a series of EP’s that you also released? What’s the main difference this time around?

The biggest difference is probably the bigger sound. Having Jello Biafra and Bob Hoag working together on this record raised the bar. They both have very specific ideas about what they want to hear and they worked together pretty tirelessly to achieve it. The Darts kind of like to write a song, rehearse it once or twice, and throw it on tape as fast as possible – and that’s what some of our previous releases kind of reflect. This one was obviously conceived entirely differently, recorded differently, and has a little darker flavor overall.

You guys are currently with Alternative Tentacles Records – how did you get discovered by them?

Jello Biafra was a fan of The Love Me Nots, which was the band Christina and I played in for many years together before we started The Darts. He had come to our shows and played our records when he DJ’d at events over the years. When we started The Darts, someone at the label dragged him to one of our shows in San Francisco. He didn’t want to go, saying that he wouldn’t like it as much as The Love Me Nots anyway so why bother. But he came, and by the end of the set he was with me at the merch booth telling me he loved it. We made a plan that very night to record a 7-inch on his label.

How pleased were you with the sound of the album?

We are thrilled with it. There is nothing quite like hearing an idea for a song in your head, like in a dream, and then finally hearing it come to life on vinyl on a great stereo. It is a magical moment.

How do you usually approach music making?

I keep voice recordings on my phone of ideas for guitar or bass lines, or a melody sometimes. I also keep notes on my phone of any lyrics ideas that come to me. I have thousands of these little clips on my phone! So when something really grabs me, I go to GarageBand on my laptop and usually first write a bass line. Then a drum part to go with it. Then I add a guitar line, which is usually a counter-melody to the bass line. Then I sing a demo vocal over all of it. The last thing I write is the organ part, which is usually another counter-melody to what the bass and guitar are doing. When the whole song is written, I send it to the band and they learn their parts on their own. Right before we record or tour, we will rehearse together once or twice and then off we go. It’s a really fast process. I am constantly writing songs, I can’t stop. By the time we record an album, I have two more albums ready. It’s a disease.

Do you often play live? Who are some of your personal favorite bands that you’ve had a chance to play with over the past few years? Are you planning to go on tour?

Touring in the US is very, very hard financially. It is extremely expensive and nearly impossible for most bands to do here. So we are focusing our touring on Europe at the moment, which has always been very good to us. Europe really appreciates and values music and musicians – all styles, all ages, all kinds of venues. It is truly a joy to play there and we plan to do it as much as we possibly can.

One of the most memorable tours we ever did was a US tour with The Damned. But we also loved playing with L7, Joan Jett, Night Beats, LA Witch, Death Valley Girls, Plague Vendor, and too many huge festivals to name where we could not believe we had a dressing room next to huge legends. We feel so humbled and grateful to be able to do what we love in so many interesting places. Next week (April 17, 2023) [Editor’s note: Interview was conductedApr 6, 2023] we will embark on the longest tour we have ever done: several months around Europe, UK, and Scandinavia. We can’t wait. It is our favorite thing to do!

Are any of you involved in any other bands or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?

Our drummer plays in a number of projects regularly in the Chicago area. I am dabbling with a side project that is just really an idea at the moment. Meliza plays in another great band in Phoenix. I think playing with other people and styles is really important to keeping your perspective strong and your skills up. Touring and working with any small group of people for a long time is hard and it is good to get out of your own head once in a while. You come back recharged.