STRANGLED DARLINGS brings a punk intensity to their live show. Taking a cello and making it a hip hop bass. Taking mandolin and slapping it like a stubborn mule. The Portland-based duo has been creating original tunes since 2009 and breaking the mold for what hipsters consider indie music. They bring a lyrical intelligence and political punch to songs that otherwise might have just been another break up song. Their song material focuses more on witchcraft in the Civil War, the morality of Somali piracy and the curse of Anna Nicole Smith’s breast implants. The band has released three studio albums and a fourth is due out this fall. Their live show mixes technical mastery with deadpan humor and a little something to shake your rumpus.Strangled Darlings are on an extended US tour to support their upcoming 2014 release  of “Boom Stomp King”. The album focuses solely on the duo sound; the current touring set-up. Boom Stomp King is a record about objects, shelter, the ephemeral nature of your history.Strangled Darlings are George Veech on vocals, mandolin, harmonica and Jessica Anderly on vocals, cello/bass­­­­­­­.

The band’s name derives from a William Faulkner quote about editing your creative process without sentiment.

[the] music can feel organic and untethered, but these numbers, perhaps appropriately, have the handcrafted aspect of American quilts — colorful, stitched-to-each-other artifacts pieced together using the fabrics of dozens of other, older garments. This allows for a richness in texture, a sense of history and a sort of comfortable resonance with the past. Staccato circus-carny rap songs follow sweeping gypsy waltzes with Tom Waits edginess and the gangling grace of a Decemberists narrative.  — Sleeping Hedgehog, March 2011

 Seemingly unrelated genres converge into a dark and twangy mix of twisted freak folk, Romany melodies, Cab Calloway saunter, Tom Waits murder ballads and everything in between, all hammered out on a mix of traditional and modern instruments.  —Williamette Week March 2011