Daryll-Ann

When it comes down to defining 50 years of Dutch popular music, a relatively big spot ought to be reserved for Daryll-Ann. Much like Shocking Blue's "Venus" or "Little Green Bag" by the George Baker Selection, through the timing of the catchy "I Could Never Love You" Daryll-Ann seemed to fit perfectly within the climate of heightened interest for young and ambitious bands during the mid-'90s boom of Brit-pop. Within their combined songsmithery, Jelle Paulusma and Anne Soldaat take the U.S. West Coast heritage of Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, and '70s era Beach Boys as a starting point; merely to improve their own uniqueness which lies in cleverly invented arrangements, matched to the coupling of a heartfelt vocal delivery. The members originated from the provincial town of Ermelo, where they played together in high school since 1988. Most of them had left for Utrecht and Amsterdam to study by the time a four-song EP saw the light. 1991's Decibel was released on the now no-longer-existing Kelt, run by Utrecht based record store Da Capo. Three of the songs would reappear on the debut album Renko, which was released the following year. Sales remained poor, but Daryll-Ann had awoken curiosity abroad. A decision to put all their time and effort in Daryll-Ann made drummer Frank van der Bij and original lead singer Coen Paulusma quit the band. To Coen -- twin brother to Jelle -- this would prove only temporarily, for he kept making contributions to EPs and albums and would eventually rejoin the band. In the course of 1993, Daryll-Ann was signed to Virgin-subsidiary Hut. Their first outing was an EP titled I Could Never Love You. It marked a huge step forward, for the unbridled freshness of the debut album was slowly giving way to a much more mature element: unbridled...