It’s a shame when a rock star kills themselves—but it’s a tragedy when the rocker wasn’t even a star to begin with. That is not to say Darcy Clay was unknown, but rather, he still flies below most radars as a fixture of alternative rock in New Zealand during the late 90’s. His peak: opening for Blur in 1997 where he was greeted with thousands of adoring yet unknowing fans. The recording of these performances are rapturous and raucous, unhinged to the perfect degree of loose amateurism, but learned enough to be convincing and honest; the hallmarks of a true songwriter. But it wasn’t just that Darcy was a songwriter, he was, in the truest sense, an auteur—an iconoclast of pop. When I first was introduced to his scraggly, amazingly lush home recordings, I was instantly floored. I had never heard anyone commute such a truer feeling to a small home digital recorder than this - I knew it was something special. So once I was able to procure Darcy Clay Anthology (1998), I knew I was set. Though it’s an unfair summation of such a brilliant and brief career, Anthology does as its name would suggest. Clay only released five original recordings as well as an amazingly soulful take on Bob Dylan’s “Jolene”, and the second half of the CD is devoted to the concert recording. But within the 38 minutes, you get a lifetime of devotion; Clay comes across as not only one of the most impressively insular and fun songwriters you’ve never heard, but one of the most fresh; his “country-fried punk rock”, as the New Zealand music press called it at the time, doesn’t sound dated or clichéd, but rather exciting and electric. Every single song on here is perfect: but he sums it up the best in his only released single, “Jesus I Was Evil” - Clay was most definitely evil, but in the best way possible - the kind of evil that gets in your head and never leaves because it’s just so good.
Listen to “Jesus I Was Evil” and “Jolene”
Download “Darcy Clay Anthology“
