The Darts @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire, Paris - July 24th, 2025

The Darts, one of the greatest garage rock bands on the circuit, brought their grrrrl-pop, psychedelic, surf-punk frenzy to La Mécanique Ondulatoire, a cramped underground stage tucked inside a hip bar in Paris’s feverish Bastille district. The venue, already stifling and too tight for comfort, turned into a pressure cooker of garage-punk delirium under the sheer force of their sonic assault. Bodies packed wall to wall, jumping, sweating, the ceiling dripping with condensation, beer... and maybe a few bodily fluids. At times, it even felt like the floor might collapse. Even if it had, no one would’ve noticed; all eyes were fixed on the stage, where frontwoman Nicole Laurenne held the crowd in her claws.

Feline, frantic, utterly possessed, she howled, shrieked, danced, jumped, climbed amplifiers, and ground against her Farfisa like it just got lucky. Behind her, guitarist Rebecca Davidson unleashed reverb-soaked surf riffs and jagged shards of distortion while bassist Lindsey Scarey, dressed like a gothic vision with her towering beehive, delivered a low-end growl straight out of horror-punk hell. Rikki Watson kept it all swinging, hammering the drums and making every song lurch forward like a Frankenstein monster on speed.

The setlist tore through tunes from their ferocious new album Nightmare Queens, dove into fan favorites from Me.Ow. and Snake Oil, and even previewed a few unreleased tracks that haven’t yet seen the inside of a studio. 

A scorching show, sweaty, savage, gloriously unhinged, and a whole lot of fun.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
Check out these related articles from the Electric Eye archives:
Killer Kin @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire, Paris - July 24th, 2025

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