Moving Day
Darling New Neighbors say goodbye
By Audra Schroeder, 11:33AM, Fri. May 27, 2011
Tomorrow night at Skinny's Ballroom, Austin trio Darling New Neighbors calls it quits after seven years, just as its latest EP, Freakers on the Spazmonaut Train, drops.
"No problems or dramas involved in our disbanding, just time to move on to new and different undertakings," explains singer/accordionist Elizabeth Jackson. "I'll be continuing playing solo as Miss Jackson, plus I'm getting back into playing more classical music, plus who knows what will manifest! [Guitarist/bassist] Amy Moreland just got her PhD and is bound for new positions and perhaps a new town. [Drummer] Karl Lundin and his wife just had a baby! So, plates are very full all around."
I asked Jackson about the final track on Freakers, "Hometown 1988," a solo accordion anthem for non-conformists. It's a fitting closing number for the band, which has tried country, pop, and punk across two previous LPs.
"I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and in high school soon discovered I often related more to the freaks and weirdos around town than my own peer group of overachievers and budding upright citizenry at the private school," she explains. "And as an adult, I realized I still have that feeling sometimes, and have fond memories of that inclusiveness and mutual acceptance we felt with one another. It was also always endearing to me that in a small-ish town in the 1980s, all the weirdos had to stick together like glue.
"There was really no distinction among the punk rockers, hippies, druggies, straight edge skater types, and just somebody who really loved the Cure. We had to watch out for frat boys, all together. A few years ago, I was in Jackson and one night when I was walking to my car some drunk guys in polo shirts rode by in a truck and said, "Freak." I was honestly surprised, because I thought I'd gotten more normal over time, but it goes to show they can always sniff you out. And I believe there is a glory in that."
A video for the track "Freakers" is forthcoming, but here's one for "Gasoline," from 2009's Rocket, to hold you over.
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