Black Tie Dynasty & [DARYL]

Lately, the savviest bands around Dallas are crazy about the buddy system. From the member-sharing of Sorta and the now-defunct Sparrows to the pop alliance between The Happy Bullets and The Tah-Dahs, double bills have proven a good way to double a fan base. Thus, it's no shocker that Black Tie Dynasty and [DARYL], two '80s-loving rock bands on Idol Records, are the latest to try the alliance route, but on Bloody Basin, their first collaboration, they one-up all other local duos. Similarly to Konkurrent's In the Fishtank EP series, Basin opens with the bands playing together on the title track, and the 10 guys match up freakishly well. Black Tie's Cory Watson adapts to the [DARYL]-leaning pop-rock and sings the hell out of "Bloody Basin"--it's his most confident lead vocal to date, and when he cries, "Nothing changes when there's nothing to exchange," the catchy tune lodged directly in my head for days. The rest of the EP is solid, but other than the title track, this isn't the best introduction to either band. BTD's Brit-pop has juicy hooks, but nothing overshadows its debut EP, This Stays Between Us, and [D]'s feedback-filled contributions are marred with surprisingly crummy production. Still, fans of either band would be missing out if they didn't pick this up. Keep up the buddy system, huh?