Battle Scars & Broken Hearts

The Nashville four-piece Darling Parade humbly describes its approach to music as “pop, rock.” The throttled “When It’s Over” introduces the band's 2013 debut album sounding like a slightly heavier version of Ednaswap—save for frontwoman Kristin Kearns, who inflects with the authoritative confidence and soaring vocal strength of a young Pat Benatar. The catchy, guitar-heavy gem “Ghost” rocks out like something from Garbage’s 1995 eponymous debut, with slightly mechanical-sounding studio flourishes peppering it. “Messin’ with Me” is another outstanding jam, with winding guitars that simmer down into chugging riffs before Kearns comes out singing and swinging with more attitude than Meredith Brooks’ feisty vocals in 1997’s Blurring the Edges. This extends into the faster-paced “Coming Undone,” a life-after-breakup anthem that would sit well on a mix alongside Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” The group closes with the Cranberries-esque lovelorn ballad “With You.”